Accidental Hero of the Galaxy
by Random Equinox
Summary: Commander Shepard. Hero of the Skyllian Blitz. First human Spectre. Potential savior of humanity and the known galaxy. Pity no one asked him what HE thought of all this.
1. Author's Note

_After some pondering, experimenting, and starting another round of Mass Effect (like that's really a hardship), I am pleased to present my own take on the game, with a bit of a twist thrown in._

_That twist was inspired by the Ciaphas Cain series (by Sandy Mitchell); one of many, many books linked to a tabletop miniature game called Warhammer 40,000. The title character, Ciaphas Cain, is widely regarded as a Hero of the Imperium. Problem is... he doesn't want to be one. He feels heroes have a disturbing tendency to get into the sort of trouble that is hazardous to life and limb, and wants to avoid such hazards whenever possible. Unfortunately, some people think he really is a hero who thrives on danger, and "volunteer" him for hazardous missions. So, he tries to find assignments that appear dangerous, but are supposedly safe, easy and boring. Either way, he usually finds himself in yet another situation that threatens life and limb... and somehow survives. Which further convinces everyone else that he's a Hero, which increases his chances of getting sucked into even more dangerous encounters... it's a very vicious cycle. Clearly, the universe has a warped sense of humor. The only saving grace is that everyone __thinks__ he's a hero, which provides a few nifty perks every now and then._

Similarly, this Commander Shepard kinda accidentally stumbled into doing something that looked heroic, things swelled WAY out of proportion, and now he's stuck with the label of Hero. And that's before visiting a "charming peaceful bit of paradise" on a "routine shakedown cruise." 

_In addition, the Ciaphas Cain series is arranged as a bunch of memoirs that were edited by another individual. These edits, in the form of explanatory footnotes and occasional excerpts from other sources, provide background information or perspectives that the reader might otherwise be unaware of. I'll be following a similar format in this fanfic, right down to the editorial comments and footnotes. Hopefully, it'll be a fun read. Who knows: you might find out something that wasn't ripped straight out of the Codex._


	2. Editorial Note

_Editorial Note_

_It has been quite some time since humanity received the distinction of gaining the first human Spectre, which served as a stepping stone to humanity getting a seat on the Council. While the majority of humanity remains unaware of the circumstances behind that appointment, and how matters came perilously close to the extinction of every race in the galaxy, they remain fascinated with that man, Lieutenant Commander Shepard, to the point where many try to emulate him. _

_As several of those admirers are part of the Systems Alliance, I felt it was important to provide some insight into who Shepard really was. Regrettably, he only served under me for a short time before our paths separated._

_Fortunately, I recently learned that Shepard had written a series of personal logs, a memoir of sorts, detailing the missions he went on in his own words. They were never published, of course, as the subject material remains far too confidential and classified, even today. What distinguishes these logs from the personal logs of other Alliance personnel are the lack of time-points, the informal tone of language and, most importantly, content of the material. In fact, the material is remarkably frank, and suggests that Shepard, the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz and the first human Spectre, was nothing more than a self-serving fraud._

_I suspect the truth is far more complicated than that. Shepard was simply a man who was exceptionally skilled at what he did, but was taken aback by the praise and rewards that followed his accomplishments. To him, he was "just doing his job," and deserved nothing more than a simple acknowledgement of his efforts. While he takes care to emphasize his proactive and, ironically, futile efforts to safeguard his wellbeing, one cannot deny that he possessed an intelligence and common sense that other so-called heroes tend to lack, and frequently went above and beyond whatever the mission parameters dictated. I believe that Shepard was all too willing to over-emphasise his shortcomings and give himself less credit than he deserved. Upon obtaining these memoirs, I have strived to edit them for the purposes of limited distribution. It is my hope that the readers who have sufficient security clearance to read these logs will get a better insight into the man Shepard was, and why he truly was "the best that humanity has to offer."_

_It seemed most fitting to begin by disseminating the logs recorded in 2183; which detail when Shepard first became a Spectre and his first mission for the Citadel Council. Despite my own involvement in several events mentioned here, I have confined myself to adding footnotes and reports, in order to provide a broader perspective wherever necessary, and separating the logs into chapters for easier reading. The majority of this narrative, therefore, is presented in Shepard's own words._

_David Edward Anderson_

_Councillor, Citadel Council_


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Everyone always asks me "What does it feel like, being the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz?"**(1)** And every time, I'm tempted to tell them what I really feel like: one big, embarrassed fraud.

I didn't ask to have my face broadcasted across the extranet. I didn't ask to have schools, parks and museums named after me. And I sure as hell did _not_ ask to have that God-awful nine-foot statue of me built in the middle of Kronos for all to see.

It's not like I did anything special. Oh, I know what all the extranet reports and history books say. How I bravely chose to stay behind, eager to defend a colony of humanity from the depredations of filthy slavers. How I cunningly led hundreds of them into an ambush, and then rallied the troops until Alliance reinforcements arrived. The truth is I tried to make it to the starport and get on the last shuttle, missed said shuttle because I got lost, and ran straight into the very slavers I was trying to avoid. In attempting to escape from those less-than-friendly individuals, I somehow led them straight to the garrison of Alliance troops who had the poor luck to get stuck on that godforsaken rock with me. The former, being a little too fixated on doing unmentionable things to me, got wiped out by the latter, who were gullible enough to think I knew what I was doing.

But, of course, I can't say that. Instead, I just put on Hero Smile #1 (Humanity's Best, Bravest and Brightest), and trot out some self-deprecating nonsense about how I couldn't have done it without the brave men and women who fought beside me. Civilians usually lap up that sort of stuff and leave it at that. It's the Alliance that makes it worse. For some reason, the brass felt they should offer a hero of my stature more opportunities to risk, or more likely, lose, my life and limb. Granted, I managed to scrape by without losing too much blood, but that only encouraged the REMFs to send me out on more borderline-suicidal missions, and I knew my luck would only hold so far.** (2)** So, I did the only sensible thing: use my fame to get myself assigned to a posting that was befitting of the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz, while having the highest chance of keeping my hide safe and sound.

After much research, the SSV Normandy seemed to meet all of my criteria. It was a prototype frigate, just the sort of thing an up-and-coming hero might be attracted to. **(3)** It was slated for solo missions deep within enemy space, which would support the danger-seeking reputation I'd found myself saddled with. Most importantly, given the risks inherent with intentionally sneaking through hostile territory, it had cutting-edge stealth technology and was designed for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. In other words, even in the worst-case scenarios, I would only watch any battles from a safe distance, rather than personally getting involved in them. The only battle I'd have to face was the battle with all that paperwork. **(4) **Even better, it was just about to go on its shakedown run to some sleepy little colony on Eden Prime, which meant I'd have even less work to do.

So I sent in my application, confident that I'd found the perfect solution to all those delusional higher-ups who thought I had some sort of death wish and were all too willing to help me meet it.

In hindsight, that proved to be the biggest mistake of my life.

* * *

My first indication that something was horribly amiss was how crowded the Normandy was. Specifically, when some helpful ensign showed me where my assigned sleeping pod was located, and I stared at the snoring acne-ridden kid I'd be "hot bunking" with.I knew damn well that the sheer number of crew members I was seeing was far in excess of a frigate on her shakedown cruise, which typically had nothing more than a skeleton crew. Granted, the crew complement was only around a couple dozen, but still.

The second warning light was our turian passenger, Nihlus Kriyik, and the lack of information pertaining to him. As XO, I got all the details on any crew member or passenger coming aboard the Normandy, or, at least, any details that the men and women in Logistics were willing to send me. With Nihlus, I got... nothing. No military records, no personal history, no information on why he was joining us or how long he'd be on board. The reason for all this cloak-and-dagger bullshit didn't exactly put my mind at ease: apparently, Nihlus was a Spectre. One of the Council's pit bulls. Those elite officers authorized to go anywhere and do anything without regard for rules, laws or any of that stuff the rest of us have to suffer through. He was well within his rights to order us into a suicide mission at any time, and we, as associate members of the Citadel, were bound to obey. Whether we, or more to the point, I, wanted to or not.

The third straw, the one that broke the proverbial camel's back, was when I found out the real plan behind the Normandy's supposed shakedown run, and how that plan completely fell apart.

But I suppose I am getting ahead of myself.

I was both relieved and excited when we finally left Arcturus Station. Relieved, because it meant I'd logged in the last crew member in triplicate. Excited because this was the first time I'd be able to watch our approach to, and our transit through, a mass relay. From the cockpit, which was as close to a front-row seat as I was going to get. Unfortunately, I'd spent a little too much time debating whether I should listen to that paranoid streak of mine that insisted we were going to get dropped into a battle any second now. By the time I'd given in to that nagging voice and donned my armour, we were already on approach to the Arcturus Prime relay.

Thankfully, years of running to and from conflicts, the latter of which I infinitely preferred but rarely encountered, came to my aid, helping me weave through the crowds towards the cockpit. I vaguely recall running up the stairs from the quarters to the command deck, wondering why those two levels were connected by stairs while the other levels were accessible via elevator. I passed by our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Chakwas, who was calmly watching everyone else. People like the FNG who was rushing by in the opposite direction.** (5)** Pressly, the navigator, who seemed to be doing some last-minute navigational calculations while talking to someone over the comm system. A gauntlet of officers stationed along the corridor leading towards the cockpit, who were hopefully performing their duties and not playing some vid-game. Some officer who was in front of the cockpit, too shy or too junior to actually enter, and too dumb to realise that standing in the doorway wasn't the smartest idea. And me, I suppose, running towards the cockpit like that FNG, trying to look dignified while doing it, and probably failing miserably.

At any rate, when I entered the cockpit, I couldn't help but automatically note who was present. A nifty little trick I picked up, one that's helped minimise the number of times where my ass has been cooked in the fire. As expected, our pilot, Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, was calmly and professionally running through pre-jump procedures. Two officers whose names eluded me. Our marine detail commander, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, who, to my surprise, was sitting in the co-pilot seat. As I served with him, I found he could always be found near the mess hall and the sleeper pods, tinkering with the exact same computer panel, never mind that prolonged exposure to the constantly random flickering of lights on that panel was guaranteed to trigger a migraine. Regrettably, I was not surprised to see Nihlus there as well. The Spectre had a knack for knowing precisely where I was going, and showing up in advance. To be honest, he was acting more like a stalker than an elite, covert operative. Heaven knows I've encountered my fair share of them. I was starting to suspect that he had also bought the whole Hero of the Skyllian Blitz crap, which only goes to show that the supposedly rigorous selection criteria used to choose Spectres did not include a healthy judge of character. All thoughts were abruptly interrupted, though, by the sight of the Arcturus Prime relay through the window.

While I've travelled from one end of the galaxy to the other, usually because some pencil-pusher was too lazy to check and see whether there was anyone else who was gullible or close enough to accept the mission instead, and have seen many incredible sights, none match the thrill of seeing an operating mass relay up close. I've encountered a few people who claim there's nothing special about seeing the long majestic pair of arms which send ships off on their merry way, the revolving rings that seem to be in perpetual motion, or the glorious ball of eezo at its core. In my totally unasked-for opinion, those poor saps are either too ignorant to know any better, or too jaded to care. If they can't appreciate the sight of a mass relay, it's their loss. They probably can't savour the thrill of actually travelling through one, citing that it's just like some roller coaster.

I must confess that I was so overwhelmed by the experience; I can't remember the details of the transit itself. My first memories afterwards were the pilot verbally checking the ship status afterwards.

"Thrusters... check. Navigation... check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift... just under 1500 K."**(6)**

"1500 is good," Nihlus declared. "Your captain will be pleased."

With that, he left. At the time, I couldn't blame him. The sexy, exciting stuff was over, and there was nothing left to do but watch other people type on their keyboards without falling asleep. Of course, you could do something drastic, like actually talk with your colleagues, which Lt. Moreau promptly did as soon as Nihlus was out of earshot.** (7)**

"I hate that guy," Lt. Moreau muttered.

Lt. Alenko looked at him curiously. "Nihlus gave you a compliment. So... you hate him."

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead! So that's incredible!" Lt. Moreau retorted. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him aboard. Call me paranoid."

Damn right, I thought, but was too smart to say out loud. **(8)**

"You're paranoid" Lt. Alenko replied promptly. "The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on this investment."

I didn't know much about Lt. Alenko at that time, beyond what was in his file. From what I saw so far, though, it seemed like he was the kind of guy who could see both sides of the story. Not a terrible trait, if you ask me, so long as it doesn't manifest as the kind of waffling regularly exercised by just about every politician or REMF I'd ever met thus far.

"Yep, that is the _official_ story. But only an idiot believes the official story," Lt. Moreau declared.

At this point, I felt I should pipe in. Not that I knew any more than they did at that point, mind you. I just wanted them to see me as the kind of superior they could actually like, and, more importantly, the kind whose head they'd want to save when the excrement hit the rotary oscillator, and now seemed as good a time as any to make a good first impression.

"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs," I commented. Or to obsessively follow people around because they have no social life, I silently added.

Lt. Moreau and Lt. Alenko exchanged a look. "So there's more going on here than the captain letting on." Despite his words, it sounded like this wasn't the first time they'd had these suspicions. Apparently, I still had a lot of work to do if I wanted to stay apprised of the local scuttlebutt.** (9)**

My thoughts, which were starting to churn faster and faster, were interrupted by Captain Anderson's voice over the comm system. "Joker. Status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain," replied Lt. Moreau, though, at the time, I couldn't see why he got that nickname. My first thought was that it had something to do with the beard or cap he was sporting, both of which were decidedly non-regulation. Not that I cared about that sort of thing, but I knew plenty of people who did. I would eventually learn the origin of that nickname, and how it wasn't nearly so superficial. "Stealth system engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good," said Captain Anderson. "Find the nearest comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass _before_ we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye, captain. Better brace yourself, sir," Joker warned. "I think Nihlus is headed your way."

"He's already here, Lieutenant," Captain Anderson replied, a distinct note of irritation in his voice. Lt. Alenko glanced at Lt. Moreau, who was shaking in his head in an "Oops" kind of way. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."

"You get that, Commander?" Joker asked.

Yep, I got that. Captain wants to debrief me, even though we haven't even started any missions, let alone complete them. And now he got embarrassed in front of the Spectre, which probably pissed him off, and he'll take it out on me. Of course, I was too smart to actually say that out loud, so I gave a simple "I'm on my way" and departed.

As I left the cockpit, I overheard Joker ask "Is it me, or is the captain always in a bad mood?"

"Only when he's talking to you, Joker," Lt. Alenko replied.

* * *

* * *

_**(1)**__: In 2176, the human colony of Elysium, located in the Skyllian Verge was attacked by an armada of pirates and slavers. Shepard defended the settlement of Kronos until reinforcements arrived. For his actions, Shepard was awarded the Star of Terra and was hence known as the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz, much to his eternal chagrin._

_**(2)**__: Rear Echelon Motherfucker, a derogative slang term used to describe superior officers in the military, usually those who are perceived to make decisions from behind a desk, rather than on the front lines, and thus lack any understanding of battlefield realities._

_**(3)**__: In the years between the Battle of Elysium and his posting on the Normandy, Shepard was involved in several missions, both high-profile and top-secret. His success in each and every one of them renders the self-given label "up-and-coming" somewhat obsolete._

_**(4)**__: Shepard applied for the posting of Executive Officer, or "XO", on the Normandy. As such, his duties and responsibilities included day-to-day operations and personnel concerns, as well as the accompanying paperwork._

_**(5)**__: Freaking New Guy, a derogatory slang term used to describe inexperienced or newly-arrived recruits. Despite the gender bias, it is the politically correct term to use, though the original, and more profanity-ridden, form is still popular amongst Systems Alliance personnel. _

_**(6)**__: Travel through a mass relay remains an art as much of a science. In practice, the larger the mass of the ship or ships transiting through the mass relay or the farther the distance travelled, the greater the deviation from the destination point. To emerge from a mass relay transit within 1500 kilometres of the target required an impressive degree of piloting skill, a fact that Lt. Moreau was, justifiably, all too willing to point out._

_**(7)**__: Shepard was generally informal in his interactions with the crew; calling them by their given name, family name, or nickname, whichever they preferred. With officers he had just met—which, as the newly appointed XO, included everyone aboard—he tended to use a more formal means of address._

_**(8)**__: To be honest, I am not sure whether Shepard was referring to the relationship between Spectres and trouble or Joker's paranoia. After some thought, I have decided to leave it alone, as it does not have any significant bearing on any future events._

_**(9)**__: A slang term referring to rumour or gossip. Civilians often tell me that the terminology used by the Alliance should be classified as a separate Earth dialect. I must admit, I'm hard pressed to disagree._


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As I walked towards the comm room, I wondered how I would get out of the mess Joker got me into. I considered blaming Joker for his big mouth, but discarded that thought once I came to my senses. While that might get me off the hook in the short term, it would also give the impression that I was the kind of officer who blamed his underlings when things went wrong. Not only would that run contrary to the reputation I'd reluctantly maintained for appearance's sake, it might also piss off the captain. For all I knew, he was the kind of captain who'd be more willing to throw those kinds of officers to the proverbial wolves. **(1)** Better to take whatever punishment he might dole out, I decided. If there's any benefit to this reputation of mine, it's that people tend to go easy on you.

Having made that throw of the dice, I noticed our navigator. He seemed slightly agitated, unlike whoever he was talking to. The closer I got, the more I could make out their conversation.

"I'm telling you, Adams! I just saw him!" Pressly exclaimed. "He just marched by like he was on a mission."

"He's a Spectre," a voice, presumably Adams's, replied. "They're always on a mission."

"And we're getting dragged right along with him." Pressly fretted.

"Relax, Pressly." Adams advised. "You're going to give yourself an ulcer."

With that, Pressly cut the communications. He turned and jumped, surprised to see me, but quickly recovered and snapped to attention.

"Congratulations, Commander. Looks like we had a smooth run. You heading down to see the captain?"

So he wanted to pretend nothing happened, did he? While I'd normally just play along, my paranoid streak kept telling me that something was amiss. So, I decided to force the issue. In my experience, people tend to blurt out things they don't intend to when you confront them unexpectedly. "Sounds like you don't trust our turian guest."

Pressly proved to be no exception. "Sorry, Commander," he said, embarrassed. "Just having a chat with Adams down in engineering. Didn't mean to cause any trouble. But you have to admit, something's odd about this mission. The whole crew feels it."

Great. That made three confirmed officers and, possibly, a whole ship worth of crew members who thought things were starting to go to hell. Maybe I could get some more scuttlebutt out of Pressly. "You think the Alliance brass is holding out on us?"

"If all we're supposed to do is test out the new stealth systems, why is Captain Anderson in charge? And then there's Nihlus. Spectres are elite operatives. Top covert agents. Why send a Spectre—a _turian_ Spectre—on a shakedown run? It doesn't add up."

"You don't trust Nihlus," I observed.

"I don't like turians in general," Pressly clarified. "Runs in my family. My grandfather fought in the First Contact War; lost a lot of friends when the turians hit us."

While I was tempted to learn more about Pressly's feelings about turians, there was something else that had greater impact on my immediate well-being. "Nihlus is no ordinary turian."

"You got that right, Commander. Spectres operate outside the normal chain of command. They don't come along just to observe shakedown runs. Nihlus looks like he's expecting some heavy action. I don't like it."

Neither did I, for that matter, and I cursed Pressly for validating my paranoid streak, which was now more smug than anything else. I attempted to reassure Pressly and, I must admit, myself. "I'm sure the captain knows what he's doing." I paused, before adding "You do trust him, right?"

"Of course," Pressly replied, sounding surprised. "But I can't figure out what he's doing here. Captain Anderson is one of the most decorated Special Forces officers in the service. If he melted down all his medals, he could make a life-size statue of himself. **(2)** You don't send a soldier like that on a do-nothing mission. He's treating this shakedown run too seriously. Something big is going on."

At this point, two things were becoming clear. One, Pressly wasn't stupid—a good thing given that he'd be navigating us in and out of danger. Two, and more importantly, I had definitely made a mistake in getting myself assigned to the Normandy. How much of a mistake, I had yet to learn. Probably a good thing, too, or I would have had a panic attack in plain sight of the entire command deck. In any event, it seemed about time to wrap things up with the navigator.

One of the first things you find about serving aboard a starship is that it's almost impossible to keep conversations private. That's especially true aboard a frigate. No sooner did I say farewell to Pressly and step away, I started overhearing another conversation. This time, I could see both participants: Dr. Chakwas and that FNG. The good doctor was evidently trying to rein him, with little success.

"I grew up on Eden Prime, Doc," the greenhorn said earnestly. It's not the kind of place Spectres visit. There's something Nihlus isn't telling us about this mission."

"That's crazy," Dr. Chakwas replied. The captain's in charge here. He wouldn't take orders from a Spectre."

"Not his choice, Doc. Spectres don't answer to anyone. They can do whatever they want. Kill anyone who gets in their way."

Dr. Chakwas laughed. "You watch too many spy vids, Jenkins."

That last bit dredged some information from the seemingly endless lists of personnel I'd logged in. Corporal Richard L. Jenkins. Born on Eden Prime, the planet we were heading to for our shakedown run. First posting with the Eden Prime garrison; second on the Normandy. Great, I thought. He really is a FNG. It was then that Jenkins noticed my presence, and turned to include me in the conversation. "What do you think, Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action."

"I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal," Dr. Chakwas scolded. "Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."

Crew members like me, I thought. Hoping to head things off before Jenkins got me neck-deep in his "real action," I tried to talk some sense into him. "You need to calm down, Corporal. A good soldier stays cool, even under fire."

"Sorry, Commander," Jenkins apologised. "But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!"

Rather than responding, I turned to Dr. Chakwas, figuring the person who actually had her feet planted firmly on the ground would be a more reliable source of information on our guest... or anything else, for that matter. "What can you tell me about Nihlus?"

"Not much," she admitted. "I haven't said more than two words to him. He usually only speaks to the captain."

"I heard Nihlus once took down an entire enemy platoon all by himself," Jenkins interrupted. **(3)** "Man, I can't believe I'm on a mission with an actual Spectre!"

On second thought, maybe there was something Jenkins could reliably tell me about. Something that might get his mind off of jumping into "real action" or the "actual Spectre". "You're from Eden Prime, aren't you, Jenkins? What's it like?"

"It's very peaceful, Commander. Gorgeous, too. They've been very careful with development, so you don't have any city noise or pollution. A little too calm and quiet for me, though. That's why I joined the Alliance. Even paradise gets boring after a while."

So why the hell were we going there, I wondered. I posed that question to Jenkins. Well, a slightly more professional version.

"Not really sure, Commander," Jenkins confessed. "Eden Prime's one of our most stable colonies. Good place to take the Normandy on a shakedown run, I guess. No real danger there." To my alarm, he became more and more excited. "But there's got to be something else going on. We've got a Spectre on board! That's why I'm so wound up. I can't wait for the real mission to start!"

In desperation, I fell back on the same mindless platitudes I'd given to every other officer since Elysium: "Just treat this like any other assignment you've had and everything will work out."

"Easy for you to say, Commander," Jenkins said enviously. "You proved yourself during the Blitz. Everyone knows what you can do." Believe me. I knew that fact all too well. "This is my big chance. I need to show the brass what I can do!"

Oh, for crying out loud, I thought. "You're young, Corporal," I responded, trying to keep my irritation out of my voice. "You have a long career ahead of you. Don't do something to mess this up."

To my relief, Jenkins finally started calming down. "Don't worry, sir. I'm not going to screw this up."

Hoping that something I said might have actually stuck in the FNG's head, I left him with Dr. Chakwas, who looked as relieved as I felt. At least, before I stepped into the comm room.

* * *

When I entered, I immediately scanned the room. No captain. Probably on a potty break. **(4)** No cause for alarm. Nihlus was there, though, watching the vid-screen, which displayed a landscape of what I assumed was Eden Prime. Definitely cause for alarm. While his back was facing me, he somehow knew when I was a few metres away, and began to talk.

"Ah, Shepard. I'm glad you're here. I was hoping for a chance to talk."

Calm down, I told myself. Remember, he might not be a stalker. He might be a Spectre. A Spectre who's gullible enough to buy this Hero of the Skyllian Blitz bullshit. "What about?" I asked.

"I'm curious about this world we're going to," Nihlus replied a little too casually. "Eden Prime. I hear it's quite beautiful."

"They say it's a paradise," I responded, recalling the overly eager corporal I'd just talked to.

"Yes... a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe." Nihlus spoke each word carefully, as if testing them, and me, for hidden signs or meaning. "Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"

"Do you know something," I asked, a sinking feeling starting to form in my stomach.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

Before I could tell him to drop the drama and tell me what he meant by "this", I heard someone else come in. Turning around, I saw the captain, who gave Nihlus a meaningful look and said "I think it's about time we told the commander what's _really_ going on."

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run," Nihlus stated.

"I figured there was something you weren't telling us," I replied, having decided that I might learn something other than the perfectly obvious if I looked like someone with two working eyes in his head.

Captain Anderson took over. "We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."

Figuring that this mission was strictly on a need-to-know basis, and glad that the REMFs had finally decided that _I_ needed to know, I motioned for the captain to continue. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation." The captain paused. "It was Prothean."

Despite my best efforts, my eyebrow raised a notch. "Prothean," I asked. "As in the Protheans who once ruled the galaxy before vanishing into thin air? The ones whose mass relays are still functioning today, 50 000 years after their disappearance?"

"Correct," Nihlus confirmed. "Without their mass relays, interstellar travel would be impossible. And their Citadel is the very heart of modern galactic society. In fact, all advanced galactic civilizations are based on Prothean technology." **(5)**

Anderson continued. "The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."

"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander," Nihlus took over. This discovery could affect every species in Council space."

As innocuous as it seemed, I was certain that Nihlus was subtly referring to our reputation as a bunch of selfish, unpredictable and dangerous FNGs in order to gauge my reaction. Unsure as to why that had anything to do with this pick-up mission, I decided to play along. "Well, it never hurts to have a few extra hands on board," I said, a polite smile plastered on my face.

"The beacon's not the only reason I'm here, Shepard," Nihlus said, staring at me intently.

That sinking feeling came back again.

"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander," Anderson added helpfully. "He's here to evaluate you."

Yep, that sinking feeling was definitely established in my stomach now, thank you _very_ much.

"Guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around," I replied, that polite smile getting harder to maintain by the second.

Anderson apparently took pity on me and decided to throw me a bone. "The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council." So far, old news. Little kid wants to play with the grown-ups. Then he dropped the bombshell: "The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

A human. Like me. That sinking feeling in my stomach had suddenly collapsed into a chasm.

"You held off an enemy assault during the Blitz single-handed," Nihlus took over. "You showed not only courage, but also incredible skill." Well, that confirms it, I thought. Spectres really _are_ that gullible. "That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres." **(6) **

While that confirmed my worst fears, I still thought I was hearing things. "You... put _my_ name forward," I repeated. "Why would a turian want a human in the Spectres?"

"Not all turians resent humanity," Nihlus replied. "Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer to the rest of the galaxy... and to the Spectres. It's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I only care that you can do the job."

And all the REMFs and politicians care about is that this would help get humanity into the Council. Naturally, all I said to Captain Anderson was "I assume this is good for the Alliance," sounding like I actually gave a rat's ass about humanity's long-term interests.

"Earth needs this, Shepard," Anderson confirmed. "We're counting on you."

"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander," Nihlus added. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together."

"You'll be in charge of the ground team," Anderson said, bringing matters back to the mission at hand. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

Well, I thought, if I'm going to be stuck with my own elite, covert stalker for the foreseeable future, I'd better get as much background information as I could to increase my chances of survival. "What do we know about this beacon? Is it anything like the data cache we discovered on Mars?"

"We don't know," Anderson admitted. "It could be. It could be something much more, though. What if it's a weapons archive? We can't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"Like raiders?" I asked.

"Exactly," Anderson nodded. "The Attican Traverse isn't the most stable sector of Citadel space. The raiders and criminals in the region might figure a Prothean beacon is worth the risk of attacking an Alliance ship. Plus, Eden Prime is right on the border of the Terminus Systems."

I must admit, I had completely forgotten that, and what it meant for my safety. "The Attican Traverse is under Citadel protection," I pointed out, desperately grabbing the first straw I could think of. "If the Terminus Systems attack, it's an act of war."

For the first time, Nihlus looked embarrassed. I hadn't spent that much social time with turians, though, and their plate-like skin made them particularly challenging to read. "Technically, yes," he allowed. "But some of the species in the Terminus might be willing to go to war over this."

"The last thing the Council wants is to get dragged into a major conflict with the Terminus Systems," Anderson explained. We have to keep this low-key."

Low-key was just fine, as far as I was concerned. "Just give the word, Captain," I said, trying to sound like the noble hero they expected me to be.

Anderson acknowledged me with another nod. "We should be getting close to Eden—"

"Captain! We've got a problem!" Joker cut in over the comm.

"What's wrong, Joker," Anderson asked.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this," came the response.

"Bring it up on screen," Anderson ordered. The three of us turned and directed our attention to the vid-screen.

My first impression was the sound of gunfire, mixed with some really shaky camera work and a lot of static. A female soldier ran towards the erstwhile filmmaker and ordered him to get down, emphasizing her words by pushing him down. More shakiness followed, though we could see what looked like a squad of soldiers firing their assault rifles on full automatic, before the camera focused on a male officer who looked like he was in way over his head.

"We are under attack," he yelled. "Taking heavy casualties. I repeat, heavy casualties. We need..." His words were drowned out as something exploded a few metres away. "-evac," he continued. "They came out of nowhere. We need—"

We never heard what they needed, as the soldier jerked and dropped to the ground, probably dead from a shot in the back. Oddly enough, the soldiers seemed to stop firing. One by one, they froze and gaped like a bunch of hillbillies. The camera shakily zoomed towards some sort of large metal object, possibly a ship of some sort. Whatever it was, it seemed to scare the shit out of the soldiers, as they started running every which way. Several more explosions could be heard, before the transmission disintegrated into static.

"Everything cuts out after that," Joker reported. "No comm traffic at all. Nothing."

Anderson narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on something. "Reverse and hold at 38.5," he ordered. Joker complied, and the transmission reversed to the metal object we'd seen earlier. If it was a ship, it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It looked like a giant metal hand, wreathed in lightning, reaching from the sky like some sort of wrathful god. From the corner of my eye, I saw Nihlus's mandibles flare, the closest I would ever come to seeing him lose his composure.

"Status report," Anderson said.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain," Joker responded, without a hint of levity to match his moniker. "No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in, Joker," Captain Anderson commanded. "Fast and quiet." He looked at Nihlus. "This mission just got a lot more complicated."

Nihlus looked back, having apparently recovered from his brief loss of control. "A small strike team could move quickly, without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon."

Captain Anderson evidently agreed. "Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold," he ordered, a strange thing since Nihlus didn't answer to anyone but the Council. Then again, I was probably just splitting hairs. Both of them were military officers, and knew when orders had to be given or received.

As Nihlus turned away, Captain Anderson glanced at me. "Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander," he told me. "You're going in."

I turned back and looked at the frozen image on the screen. Great, I thought. Stuck on a suddenly hostile mission alongside an elite, covert stalker and a FNG with a death wish. Could things get any worse?

Much to my dismay, the answer was a resounding yes.

********************__

_(1): To be fair, Shepard hadn't known me for very long. I'm not one to be so cavalier with the lives of the officers under my command, though I certainly wouldn't be impressed by any officer who displayed that kind of behaviour. _

_(2): No thanks. Readers will recall Shepard's distaste with the statue of himself on Elysium, and that was out of his control. I saw, and still see, no reason to intentionally bring that nightmare upon myself. _

_(3): Jenkins would probably be disappointed to learn that the enemy platoon in question was on a poorly-maintained dropship that was barely holding together. Nihlus only needed one shot from a sniper rifle to bring the whole thing crashing down. _

_(4): Actually, Nihlus asked for the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with Shepard. Given the real reason for his presence, I readily agreed. _

_(5): In hindsight, it was very convenient for the Protheans to leave their technology behind while they themselves disappeared. Mind you, none of the races, including humanity, were asking any questions. _

_(6): Actually, Donnel Udina, the ambassador at the time, submitted a short-list of candidates, based on recommendations from Admiral Steven Hackett and myself. Nihlus chose Shepard's name from that list, so I suppose he was technically correct. _


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

My first impression of Eden Prime was that Jenkins was right: it really did look like a paradise. Tall trees, lush with growth. Gently sloping inclines covered with grass, aside from the odd boulder that somehow added to the surrounding beauty. Behind us, fields of crops stretched out as far as the eye could see. In front of us, a tranquil pond displayed a reflected image of clouds, flickering lights, and a stunning sunset. It truly did look like paradise.

At least, it would have if the clouds weren't streams of smoke and the flickering lights weren't from burning buildings.

"Ship perimeter secure, Commander," Kaidan reported.

Jenkins, understandably, was a little more distraught. "Oh, god," he moaned. "What happened here?"

Before I could respond, the helmet comm chirped. It was Nihlus. We'd dropped him off earlier, so he could scout again and feed us status reports. "This place got hit hard, Commander," he reported. "Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."

Cognizant of the need to maintain radio silence, I simply clicked the comm to acknowledge, then looked around. Tree, rock, grass, another rock, pond... hello. Motioning for the others to follow, I headed towards what looked like a crate that was partially submerged in a nearby pond. **(1)**

As we started wading through the pond, we noticed a bunch of... _things_. They looked like a mass of pulsing spheres stuck together with short tentacles underneath, floating along the currents of the wind. "What the hell are those?" Kaidan exclaimed.

"Gas bags. Don't worry—they're harmless," Jenkins replied.

He sounded a lot calmer than when we first touched down. Maybe playing tour guide was calming his nerves. Whatever the reason, I wasn't complaining.

Upon reaching the crate, I noticed it didn't even have an electronic lock. Made it easy to pick up the Mark VIII kinetic coil that was hiding inside. I quickly scanned the equipment Kaidan and Jenkins possessed, then, after some deliberation, wordlessly handed the coil to Kaidan. He took the upgrade with a nod and slotted it into his pistol.

Having completed that little side-trip, I pulled up a map of the immediate area on my HUD. **(2)** It looked like there was a path weaving from our drop-point to some sort of rapid-transit system. Approximately halfway between those two points were... bingo! "Okay, listen up," I said, automatically falling into my role as squad leader. **(3) "**We're gonna head northwest to the dig site, located approximately here." I planted a waypoint marker on everyone's HUD map. "Keep your eyes and ears sharp, and don't forget to breathe. Got it?" I received a nod from my squad mates. "Move out."

* * *

The first minute or so was uneventful, with the squad following the path to the top of a small hill. Upon reaching the crest, I paused, knelt and motioned for the rest of the squad to halt. Surveying the next kilometre or so, I didn't see anything other than grass and rocks. My paranoid streak wouldn't shut up, though, insisting that something was going on. Hesitantly, I waved my team forward.

As we moved along, though, I noticed that Jenkins wasn't making much use of the rocks for cover, blithely trotting down the path. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bunch of objects fly from behind one of the rocks, guns blazing. Before I could say anything, Jenkins obliviously moved into the open, where he was promptly gunned down.

Kaidan and I promptly opened fire with our pistols. Between the two of us, it didn't take long to take the three drones down. Once the immediate danger was over, we walked towards Jenkins's body. While Kaidan bent down to examine Jenkins, I had my hardsuit computer start a search for races or factions that might use those particular drones. This mission was already going from bad to worse, and I was hoping I might be able to unearth some small bit of intelligence that would increase my chances of survival from nil to slim.

"Ripped right through his shields," Kaidan said sadly, standing up. "Never had a chance."

"We'll see that he gets a proper service once the mission is complete," I assured him. "But I need you to stay focused." Preferably, focused on staying between me and any more of those drones, I silently added.

"Aye, aye, sir," Kaidan nodded, taking a firmer grip on his pistol.

* * *

Now down to two, we slowly moved on, this time taking extra care to note, and hide behind, the rocks scattered along the path. Several times, my finger twitched, ready to fire at an incoming drone, only to stop myself as I recognized it as another one of those annoying gas bags.

Just before we reached a thick patch of trees, we encountered more drones. This bunch seemed a bit hardier than the last bunch... and, to my horror; one of them was packing a rocket launcher. Kaidan and I jumped for cover as it fired off a rocket. Thankfully, the yield on that rocket was pretty low, and it didn't cause much damage to our shields. I quickly fired off a tech mine from my omni-tool to overload the rocket drone's weapons. For once, luck was with me, as the other drones were within range of my signal too. Unable to fire their weapons, the drones just floated there, easy pickings for us.

At this point, Nihlus chose to send another report: "I've got more burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

With that grim news still echoing in my noggin, keeping company with Jenkins's untimely demise, we moved into the copse of trees. I imagine they would have been great for picnics or a game of hide-and-seek. Unfortunately, I had the sneaking suspicion that we'd be doing the latter with a bunch of hostile drones. Naturally, I was correct. We were able to clear the trees without too much trouble, though.

Ahead of us, I could see the path starting to dip into a shallow decline. As I moved along, I saw something moving quickly towards us, and I motioned Kaidan to get under cover. As I took my own advice, I could see that it was a soldier, running from a pair of drones. The soldier jumped to the side, whipped out a pistol, and blasted the two out of the air with impressive accuracy.

Looking ahead, I could see some more soldiers, whose armour was noticeably different from any Alliance model, even from this distance. The most unusual feature seemed to be their helmets, which somehow reminded me of melon-sized blue flashlights. They seemed to be manhandling some civilian onto a platform. As we watched, a spike exploded out of the platform, impaling and lifting him several metres into the air.

Presumably horrified by the sight, the soldier scrambled behind another rock, holstered the pistol and took out an assault rifle. That movement, though, attracted the attention of the enemy soldiers, who immediately moved forward.

The last few engagements must have honed our coordination as a team, as Kaidan immediately used a tech mine from his own omni-tool to overload the enemy's shields without waiting for my order. The two of us focused our fire on one of the enemy soldiers, who went down in short order, while the soldier we were rescuing took out the other.

Having finished the enemy off, we jogged towards the third soldier. As we got closer, I recognized her as one of the soldiers we saw during the vid-transmission in the comm room, the one who ordered the erstwhile filmmaker to get down.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212," she said, snapping off a limp salute that would be pathetic under most circumstances, but perfectly understandable in the current situation. "You the one in charge here, sir?"

"Commander Shepard, SSV Normandy," I confirmed. "Lieutenant Alenko," I added, motioning to my companion. "Are you wounded, Williams?"

"A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious," she dismissed. "The others weren't so lucky." She seemed overwhelmed for a moment, as the adrenaline started to wear off and the reality of the situation hit her. "Oh, man... We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

While her earlier comments had already suggested what happened, I asked her where the rest of her squad was. If nothing else, I wanted to confirm whether there were any more bodies to hide behind.

"We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush," came the reply. "I don't think any of the others... I think I'm the only one left."

Years of giving heroic clichés came to my rescue, as I saw she was experiencing a massive attack of guilt. "This isn't your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them."

"Yes, sir," Ashley responded, visibly pulling herself together before continuing. "We held our position as long as we could. Until the geth overwhelmed us."

Kaidan and I exchanged a startled glance. "Geth?" he asked, as I got my computer to refine the search I'd started earlier. "The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly two hundred years." Be that as it may, my computer now identified the drones as a variety of geth designs, and the enemy soldiers as "geth troopers." If nothing else, the flashlight heads were a perfect match. "Why are they here now?" Kaidan asked Ashley.

Ashley shrugged. "They must have come for the beacon. The dig site is close. Right around the corner. It might still be there."

"We could use your help, Williams," I said, coming to a decision. She seemed to know how to use her gear, and, more importantly, wasn't as green as our departed squad mate. It would've been nice if he had been around, though, even if he was a FNG.

"Aye, aye, sir," she nodded. In a grimmer voice, she added "It's time for payback."

Since no one was taking pot-shots at us, I figured now was a good time to get brought up to speed. Intel reports are usually fine, but if you really want to know what's going on, it's best to ask one of the gropos themselves and get their perspective. **(4)** Especially in situations like this, when the intel was clearly next-to-useless. "Describe what happened leading up to the attack," I ordered.

"We were sent out a couple nights ago from the main colony to secure the area," Ashley reported. "Seemed like a routine patrol until the geth hit us. We never knew they were coming."

"What can you tell me about the beacon?" I asked.

"They were doing some digging out here to extend the monorail and expand the colony. A few weeks ago, they unearthed some Prothean ruins... and the beacon. Suddenly, every scientific expert in the colony was interested. That's when they brought us in to secure the site. I don't know much about the beacon itself. But I heard one of the researchers say this could be the biggest scientific discovery of the century."

There didn't seem to be much more to ask. Just as I was about to order the squad to move, though, something occurred to me. "Have you seen a turian Spectre around here?"

Ashley looked confused. "There aren't any turians on Eden Prime. None that I've ever met. Not sure I'd be able to tell if one was a Spectre, anyways."

"If you saw this guy, you'd know," Kaidan commented quietly. "Carries enough firepower to wipe out a whole platoon. **(5)** Luckily, he's on our side."

"Sorry," Ashley shook her head. "Like I said, no turians."

Well, that's that, I thought. "Move out."

By moving out, I meant moving towards a few more crates that I saw over to our right, trying to ignore the poor sap still dangling from the spike. Ashley must have thought I was disoriented or something, because she helpfully told me that the beacon was at the far end of the trench we were in. I just nodded an acknowledgement, added the contents of the crates to my personal stash, and moved on, ignoring the confused look Ashley sent Kaidan and the resigned shrug Kaidan sent back.

Sure enough, we saw a small circular stage at the bottom of the ravine we were following, flanked by a partially constructed wall and tower that seemed to go up some sort of ridge, presumably for the monorail Ashley had mentioned earlier. We were about twenty or thirty metres away when my HUD lit up. It couldn't tell us what they were, but there were definitely four active bodies moving around.

I quickly motioned Ashley and Kaidan to find some cover, just before a shot ricocheted off a nearby rock. Ducking down, I saw four troopers slowly moving towards us. Using my HUD, I designated the centre pair for Ashley and Kaidan to tackle, while I opened fire on the rightmost trooper. Those three were taken out in short order, leaving the fourth one to face three armed soldiers alone. Needless to say, it didn't last very long.

Thanking whatever fates were listening for how easy the opposition was so far, we walked onto the stage. Looking around, I saw dust, dents from weapons fire... but nothing that looked like a beacon. I turned to Ashley and raised an eyebrow.

"This is the dig site," she insisted. "The beacon was right here. It must have been moved."

"By who," Kaidan asked. "Our side? Or the geth?"

"Hard to say," Ashley admitted. "Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."

"You think anyone got out of here alive?" I asked sceptically.

"If they were lucky," Ashley responded. "Maybe hiding up in the camp. It's just on the top of this ridge. Up the ramps."

It occurred to me that we should have met my elite, covert stalker by now. As if on cue, the comm snapped into life. "Change of plans, Shepard," Nihlus said. "There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

Like the dig site, I wanted to ask, but was smart enough not to. Moot point, anyways, as the comm went silent before I could have said anything. Without anything else to do, other than scavenge through another crate, I ordered my companions to go up the ridge.

* * *

My paranoid streak started screaming louder and louder as we walked up the ridge, for good reason. We had a huge rocky outcrop on our left and the wall on our right, effectively funnelling us into a narrow fire zone. To make matters worse, we were going uphill, which meant any idiot would have the jump on us, even if he or she knew nothing about the tactical advantage of holding the high ground.

Kaidan must have shared my concern. "Good place for an ambush," he warned. "Keep your guard up." He was probably trying to alert Ashley, who seemed distracted by the fact that the research camp looked more like a warzone.

In hindsight, though, his words proved rather prophetic.

Rounding the corner at the top of the ridge, we saw three more of those geth platforms, each with a body dangling from its spike. These bodies seemed different, though, and I paused so I could get a better look. The bodies were... glowing, for lack of a better word. It looked like some kid got carried away with a vat of fluorescent blue body paint, and these poor souls were the victims. As I looked closer, I was shocked to see one of the bodies twitching.

"Oh, god!" Kaidan exclaimed. "They're still alive!"

"What did the geth do to them?" Ashley cried out.

As if someone heard her, an alarm sounded. The platforms abruptly retracted, bringing the bodies back to the ground. One by one, the glowing... husks, for lack of a better word, pulled themselves off the spikes, got to their feet, and promptly charged us. **(6) **

The three of us opened fire, but the husks seemed remarkably resilient. Either that, or it was hard to hit them because they kept moving back and forth like drunken zombies on red sand. One of them, bluer than the others, was getting awfully close to Kaidan. As it got closer, I realized that the blue hue was actually some kind of electrical charge that was building up. Before I could say anything, it discharged that energy, which washed over Kaidan like a wave. My HUD noted that his shields were instantly depleted, which Kaidan confirmed a second later.

I yelled at him to get back, but he only got a few steps before tripping and falling over. Cursing under my breath, I charged that husk. No, I still have no idea why I made that suicidal move. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. As it turned out, the husk was definitely not a contender for a heavyweight wrestling match, as the thing went flying as soon as I hit it. While it was fumbling around, I ordered Kaidan, who had gotten back to his feet at that point, to shoot it until it stopped glowing, and turned my attention to the remaining husks. As Ashley had been frantically hosing the other husks with ammunition while Kaidan and I were distracted, it didn't take long for us to finish them off.

Once I had a chance to catch my breath, I noticed that there were two sheds nearby. One of them was open, and full of crates. The other was locked. After checking to see that everyone was okay, and swiping everything that wasn't nailed down, I turned my attention to the locked shed. Easy decryption subroutine. Only took a few seconds to crack.

"Humans!" a female voice said in relief. "Thank the Maker!"

"Hurry!" a second voice, male, whispered frantically. "Close the door! Before they come back!"

We stepped inside the shed. As the door automatically closed, I saw the people who were talking to us. One woman, a redhead. Tense, but relieved. A man, hunched over. Would've had a lush mane of dark hair if he wasn't balding, either from a bad set of genes or the craziness that had swooped down on the camp.

"Don't worry," I said, offering Hero Smile #2 (I'm Here to Protect You). "We'll protect you."

The woman ignored the well-worn cliché in my response and thanked me. "I think we'll be okay now. It looks like everyone's gone."

"You're Dr. Warren," Ashley spoke up. "The one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning," Dr. Warren responded. "Dr. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide." She paused for a moment. "They gave their lives to save us."

"No one is saved," Dr. Manuel burst out. "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."

"What else can you tell me about the attack?" I asked, deciding to overlook Dr. Manuel's remarks.

"It all happened so fast," Dr. Warren answered. One second we were gathering up our equipment. The next we were hiding in the shed while the geth swarmed over the camp.

"Agents of the destroyers," Dr. Manuel muttered hysterically. "Bringers of darkness. Heralds of our extinction."

Dr. Warren continued as if Dr. Manuel hadn't spoken, something I gathered she had ample experience with. "We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire. Screams. I thought it would never end. Then, everything went quiet. We just sat there, too afraid to move. Until you came along."

Having gotten the immediate sit-rep stuff out of the way, I decided to probe for additional information. **(7) **If what Ashley said was true, this woman would know more about the object we were picking up than anyone else. "Can you tell me anything about the beacon?"

Dr. Warren seemed to relax, probably because this was territory she was more familiar and comfortable with. "It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime!" Her enthusiasm seemed to pick up as she continued, forgetting, for a moment, the horrors she'd encountered. "Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside?"

"We have unearthed the heart of evil," Dr. Manuel ranted. "Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness."

"Manuel! Please!" Dr. Warren admonished. "This isn't the time."

"Did you notice a turian in the area?" I asked. It was a long shot, especially if they were hiding all this time. So I was surprised when Dr. Manuel responded.

"I saw him," he said. "The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack."

Kaidan and I exchanged confused glances. "That's impossible," he exclaimed. "Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Warren apologised. "Manuel's still a bit... unsettled. We haven't seen your turian. We've been hiding in here since the attack."

"What's wrong with your assistant?" I asked. After all, if he was going to go nuts on me, I wanted to know in advance.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a little bit... unstable," Dr. Warren explained. "Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin."

While Dr. Manuel may have been unstable, he was at least coherent enough to know when someone was talking about him. "Is it madness to see the future?" he asked, though I couldn't tell to whom he was addressing. "To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!"

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack," Dr. Warren reassured us.

Confident that I'd learned all I could, and that I wouldn't have to look behind me for any crazed lunatics, I ordered Williams to take us to the spaceport. As we left, Dr. Manuel ranted: "You can't stop it. Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity." Just as the door closed behind us, I heard Dr. Warren hushing him. "Go lie down. You'll feel better once the medication kicks in."

* * *

Ashley started to lead the way to the spaceport, which was right behind the sheds we had just visited. We had only taken a couple of steps when a sharp crack broke the air. It sounded exactly like a single gunshot. From a pistol, to be exact. I was busy scanning our immediate surroundings, looking for any nearby geth with a pistol and an itchy trigger finger, so I may be forgiven for missing the rather large object near the spaceport. Kaidan, however, did not: "What is that? Off in the distance?"

"It's a ship," Ashley said. "Look at the size of it!"

I followed their gaze, and had a moment of déjà vu. It was the exact ship that I had seen earlier in the comm room. It seemed almost organic in design, like some kind of giant metallic squid or cuttlefish. Judging by the way it loomed over the spaceport, it had to be the size of a dreadnought, which begged the question of how much eezo was in the damn thing. As I pondered that puzzle, it lifted off, soaring into the clouds in a blanket of crackling red energy, with a howl that seemed to grate on my little gray cells.

With some effort, I dragged my attention back to the immediate surroundings. A cheap metal ramp connected the hill we were on with a smaller one, which had yet another piece of burning wreckage and a shed. That hill sloped down towards the spaceport. The one which had a geth trooper and a bunch of husk platforms guarding it.

"Ashley, Kaidan, I'm going to take the trooper out," I warned. "There's a good chance that those husks will start charging the moment I open fire."

"We'll be ready," Kaidan reassured me.

I holstered my pistol and pulled out my sniper rifle. I'd probably only get one shot off, maybe two, before I'd have to switch back to something with a shorter range. As I peered through the scope, I was catapulted back to sniper training, with my instructor talking in my ear. "Line up on the target. Exhale. Adjust your aim... and... FIRE!"

To my satisfaction, the geth trooper went down like a sack of potatoes. As I guessed, though, that was enough to activate the husks. With an abrasive, howling alarm, the platforms retracted, releasing their glowing contents. I had just enough time to fire off another shot and take out one of the husks before the remaining husks got too close and I had to switch back to my pistol. Thankfully, Kaidan used his biotics to "throw" or push them away, which allowed us to finish them off without anyone having their shields drained (or worse).

Once we were satisfied that the area was secure, we moved towards the crate tucked behind a tree. Opening it, I found a Mark VI Naginata sniper rifle, from Ariake Technologies, and a Mark VII Kovalyov assault rifle, courtesy of Rosenkov Materials. The former I happily took; the latter I gave to Ashley, the only one in my party cleared to use one of those things. Then we moved over to the shed. Again, the door was locked. Again, the lock was remarkably easy to disable.

"Everybody stay calm out there," a voice shouted. "We're coming out. We're not armed." The speaker was a balding male with brown hair, accompanied by a male and a female, both with brown hair. For a moment, I wondered if they were related.

"Is it safe? Are they gone?" This was from the female, almost spitting out her words in her haste.

"You're okay now," I reassured them. "Nobody's going to hurt you." Yes, I know it's yet another cliché. But the civvies seem to lap it up. **(8) **

"Those things were crawling all around the shed," the man who had spoken first said. "They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives."

Apparently, I wasn't the only one fond of clichés.

"I— I still can't believe it," the female said. "When we saw that ship, I thought it was all over."

"It showed up right before the attack," the first man explained. "Knew it was trouble the second I saw it. So we made a break for the sheds."

The three of them seemed rather nervous and jittery. Probably from the attack. Still... "What else can you tell me about the ship you saw?" I asked.

The first man shrugged. "I was too busy running to get a clear look at it. I think it landed over near the spaceport."

"Tell them about the noise, Cole," the female interrupted. "That awful noise."

"It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended," Cole elaborated. "Sounded like the shriek of the damned. Only... it was coming from inside your own head."

Like the sound we heard as it took off, I thought. "It was probably trying to block communications," I offered. Though I'd never heard of any ECM that was that loud. **(9)**

Cole shook his head, as if he was trying to clear it. "Whatever it was, felt like it was tearing right through my skull. Almost made it impossible to think."

I asked them some more questions about what they remembered about the attack and what they knew about the beacon. As they gave their answers, which basically summed up to "Not much," that nagging feeling kept growing. They were just a little too nervous. Like they were hiding something. The third man, who barely spoke a word, looked particularly agitated. So I kept staring at him every chance I got. Either he'd crack, or he'd think I was coming on to him.

Unfortunately, none of them seemed to break down. So I gave them my "last chance to 'fess up" routine: "Well, guess I have to go," followed by a pause.

The third man finally took the bait. "Hey, Cole. We're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff."

Cole looked back at him angrily. "Geez, Blake," he exclaimed. "You gotta learn when to shut up!"

I raised an eyebrow at the apparent ringleader. "You have something you want to tell me, Cole?"

"Some of the guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring," Cole confessed. "Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds."

"What kind of packages?" I asked.

"I found a pistol," Cole replied. "Figured it would come in handy if those things come back. But you'll probably get more use out of it than we will." I looked at the pistol as he handed it over. Stinger model from Devlon Industries. Mark II. Couldn't hold a candle to my Mark VII Brawler, but... I brought up the equipment roster on my HUD. Nope, Kaidan and Ashley also had better pistols. Still, while Cole was being so generous...

"We're risking our lives to save this colony," I said, laying on the guilt. "You sure there's nothing else here that could help us out?"

Cole paused for a moment, and then relented. "Yeah, there is one other thing," he admitted. "I was going to sell it after this was over, but you probably deserve it more than I do." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an armour mod. My HUD told me it was some sort of shield upgrade, which I happily slotted into my armour.

"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole?" Ashley demanded. "What's his name?"

"He's not a bad guy," Cole tried to placate her. "I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm no snitch."

"He might have something to do with this whole attack, Cole," I said. Slim chance, but you never know. "We need his name. It's important."

"Yeah, okay. You're right," Cole finally agreed. "His name's Powell. Works the docks at the spaceport. If he's still alive."

To everyone's surprise, including my own, I handed back the Stinger pistol. "We already have weapons," I explained. "You don't. You might as well hang on to this in case we miss any hostiles."

Cole took it with a stunned look, one that mirrored the expression on his companions. "Good luck," was all he offered.

* * *

It was a short and uneventful walk from the shed to the docks. As we walked, Ashley seemed to be wrestling with a burning question, which she finally asked: "Commander, why did you give them back the Stinger? They smuggled it from Alliance supplies, for God's sake!" **(10)**

"Like I said, they need it for protection," I answered. "Besides, the smuggling ring's probably destroyed after this attack."

"And the armour upgrade?" Kaidan put in.

"Did you see any of them wearing any armour?" I responded.

Ashley and Kaidan seemed to concede the point, or they decided it was more trouble than it was worth to backtrack and retrieve the pistol. We walked up the stairs onto the docks. We saw a pack of crates, some burning items, and a couple corpses... one of which was turian.

Kaidan ID'ed him first. "Commander, it's Nihlus!" he exclaimed.

Kaidan and I bent over and examined the turian body. No defensive wounds. No gunshot wounds on the front. We would have continued playing amateur crime scene investigator, but Ashley, who apparently had better things to do than stare at a dead guy, noticed that we weren't alone. "Something's moving!" she cried. "Over behind those crates!"

We all jumped to our feet, except Ashley, who was already on them, and whipped out our pistols with a speed that would do Gunnery Chief Ellison proud.

"Wait! Don't— don't shoot!" a voice yelled. "I'm one of you! I'm human."

A man crept out from behind a particularly large crate. He was wearing a large knitted cap over his head and was sporting something that looked much darker than a five o'clock shadow. The poor man was shaking in fear, probably because of the three pistols pointing at his face.

"Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!" I snapped. After all the geth popping out of nowhere to give us random heart attacks, this guy was lucky we didn't give him a third nostril.

"I... I'm sorry," the man apologised. "I was hiding. From those creatures. My name's Powell," he introduced himself. "I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

Other one, I thought? I was reminded of that crazy guy we'd just talked to. Dr. Manuel. Maybe he wasn't completely off his rocker after all. "I need to know how Nihlus died," I told Powell.

"The other one got here first," Powell began. "He was waiting when your friend showed up. He... he called him Saren. I... I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down... and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

At first, I was relieved that I wouldn't have to worry any more about that stalker haunting my shadow. Then I remembered why we were here in the first place. "We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?" I asked Powell.

"It's over on the other platform," Powell replied, pointing over his shoulder. "Probably wherever that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend." He shook his head. "I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we showed up. First that damn mothership showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates, I'd be dead too!"

That was the second time he'd mentioned that, and I was more than a little curious. After all, I'd do the same in his shoes. "How come you're the only one who survived? Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?"

Powell looked down ashamedly. "They never had a chance. I... I was already behind the crates when the attack started."

Kaidan raised a hand to stop Powell. "Wait a minute," he said incredulously. "You were hiding behind the crates _before _the attack?"

"I...," Powell started, and then paused. His shoulders dropped in resignation, apparently giving up on whatever tall tale he was originally planning to give us. "Sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift," he admitted. "I sneak off behind the crate to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me."

Okay, maybe I wouldn't have gone that far.

"You survived because you're _lazy_?" Ashley asked. She sounded as incredulous as Kaidan. Bit more offended as well, come to think of it.

"If you hadn't snuck off for that nap, you'd probably be dead with the others," I put in.

Powell didn't seem comforted by my words. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it."

Well, if he had been napping or hiding all this time, he probably wouldn't know much about what happened. There was one other thing he could be useful for... "You're Cole's contact here on the docks. For the smuggling ring."

"What?" Powell looked startled. "No! I mean... what does it matter now?" he gave up. "So I'm a smuggler now. Who cares? My supervisor's dead. The entire crew's dead. It doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Anything hidden nearby that we could use against the geth?" I asked. It would be nice to have a little direction when scavenging through the rest of these crates.

"A shipment of grenades came through last week," Powell offered. "Nobody notices if a few small pieces go missing from the military orders."

"You greedy son of a bitch!" Ashley cried out furiously. "We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?"

"I never thought you'd actually need those grenades!" Powell protested. "Who'd want to attack Eden Prime? We're just a bunch of farmers! How was I supposed to know?"

I couldn't really find it in myself to be outraged at him. After all, I'd just spend the last hour or so pinching anything that wasn't nailed down. "Forget about him," I told Ashley. "He's not worth it."

"You're lucky the commander's here, Powell," she told Powell stiffly. "Hand over those grenades."

"They're yours," Powell said immediately, sensing that she was still on the urge of deciding which gun to shoot him with and not wanting to push her over the edge. "Take them. My smuggling days are over. I swear."

As Ashley reached out and grabbed the grenades, I noted that she was still gripping her pistol. Granted, we all were, but she was the only one still pissed enough to pull the trigger. Especially after I kinda took Powell's side. It occurred to me that laying a bit more guilt on him might calm her down before she did something rash, like shooting Powell in the knee or head, which would attract every geth around here like bees to honey. Plus, I might be able to score some more freebies.

"A lot of marines died here, Powell," I said solemnly. "Those grenades could have come in handy. "If I were you, I'd think of some way to make it up to them."

My words paid off. "Yeah," Powell nodded slowly. "Okay. There is something else I was saving. Could be worth a fortune. Experimental technology, top of the line." He handed over some kind of grenade upgrade. "Take it. I don't need it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Really. I'm sorry." **(11) **

I took the upgrade and put in one of my utility pouches. There didn't seem to be any other reason to stay here, and we really did have to get going. We need to find that beacon before it's too late, I thought.

"Take the cargo train," Powell replied. Apparently, I hadn't kept my mouth shut. "Over to the right, down the ramp, then over to the end of the loading platform. That's where the other turian went." His shoulders sagged, as if the shock was finally too much for him. "I... I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this."

He stumbled away, weaving his way through the crates. I might have been tempted to stop him and say something, even if I had no idea what, but my paranoid streak started shrieking in my head. Startled, I lifted my pistol, which I had never gotten around to holstering throughout our conversation, and pointed in the direction of the cargo train. Kaidan and Ashley followed suit, a wise move, as our motion detectors began registering two... three... no, six signals. So far. Great.

Well, they weren't moving towards us, so maybe we could get the drop on them. I motioned the squad forward, hoping to get into an optimal firing position. Naturally, we were still a few steps away when four of those signals resolved into a geth assault drone, a geth rocket drone and two geth troopers. All of which opened fire first.

"Kaidan, Ashley, hit the troopers," I yelled, while using my omni-tool to shut down the rocket drone's weapons before it blew us to kingdom come. Not for the first time, I blessed whoever had the bright idea to put a mini-fabricator in those omni-tools, especially one that could churn out those oh-so-versatile tech mines. Once that was done, it was a piece of cake to take the drones out. I then checked my squad, and was shocked to see the troopers had managed to completely drain Kaidan's shields, and put a few dents in his hardsuit as well. Ashley wasn't much better. Somehow, I fared the best out of the three of us... which meant that I would have to take point. Nuts.

Cautiously, I crept forward towards the ramp Powell had pointed out, Kaidan and Ashley following closely. So far, so good. I crept down the ramp. No enemy fire and the rest of my team were finally starting to regenerate their shields. So far, so good.

Then we got onto the loading platform. It was swarming with geth troopers and two big guys which my HUD helpfully ID'ed as "Geth Destroyers." That last part did not sound good at all.

It was then that my brain chose to finally wake up. I activated my omni-tool again, uploaded a certain program into my tech mine software, fired a mine towards the closest geth destroyer, and turned to my squad with a relieved grin. "This should be a piece of cake," I told them.

At first, they looked at me as if I had finally lost my marbles. Then they looked past me, and they simultaneously dropped their jaws in disbelief. The geth destroyer I had targeted had gone completely berserk, charging its fellow geth and blasting them with its weapon. It almost didn't seem like a fair fight. Unfortunately, there were plenty of troopers who had retained their electronic senses. And they had another destroyer on their side. Still, by the time our unwitting ally bit the dust, the remaining geth were either destroyed or severely damaged. Easy pickings for the rest of us.

As Ashley reduced the final trooper to a metallic heap, Kaidan turned to me and asked "Commander... what did you do to that guy?"

I shrugged modestly. "Hacked its IFF protocols." **(12)**

"And you couldn't have done this before?" Ashley asked, somewhat sceptically.

Again, I shrugged. "You guys had it under control earlier."

Kaidan and Ashley seemed to straighten their shoulders, pleased at the confidence I apparently had in them. As I intended, of course. The last thing I wanted to do was admit that I'd forgotten I had that particular program installed last month.

Having boosted the morale of my squad members, we got onto the glorified cargo train (which was really a platform with a control panel welded on). I used my years of technical training to activate the cargo train (which amounted to pressing the big shiny button that said "Go"), and off we went.

* * *

The ride to the train station of the other platform took about five minutes. Five long, pleasantly uneventful minutes. I almost convinced myself that things would get much easier from here on out.

Then a shot ricocheted off my shields and brought me back to cold, unfeeling reality.

The three of us quickly ducked. I looked around, and found that, for once, the universe had shown pity on me. With my current, and much-reduced, field of view, I had a perfect line of sight on the demolition charge merrily beeping away.

I scrambled over to the bomb before it could put me out of my misery. While I wasn't formally trained in ordinance handling and disposal, I did know what happened when certain wires are connected or disconnected from certain parts. Not to mention a handy-dandy omni-tool full of random programs and subroutines. Apparently that was enough, because I managed to defuse the bomb without it exploding violently all over us. I looked at the timer. 4 minutes and 41 seconds remaining. Not good.

"The geth must have planted it!" Kaidan said tensely.

"There's probably more too," Ashley added.

Quickly, I formulated a plan of action. "Ashley, you and I are gonna take out the geth. Kaidan, keep an eye out for any more demo charges and mark them on your map so we can find them later. Otherwise, shutdown their shields or overload their weapons. Got it?"

The two of them nodded and got a firmer grip on their weapons. I nodded back. "Go, go, go!"

The next few minutes are a bit of a blur. The main thing that sticks out was that the geth were situated on our side, that is, the same side as the cargo train, but there was no direct way to get to them. So we had to run across a ramp to the other side of the train station, do a 180, and run back along a second ramp. All while facing a constant barrage of fire from the geth. Somehow, though, we made it and killed them all without anyone else dying on my watch.

As soon as the last geth went down, I looked around. Seeing my darting gaze, Kaidan helpfully reported "I found three more charges, Commander."

Reluctant to tell him I was actually searching for more loot, I nodded gravely and said: "Lead the way, Kaidan. Time is of the essence."

By the time we found and defused the last charge, there was only two minutes left on the timer. I guess that whole firefight took less time than I thought. We took a few moments to catch our breath, which also gave me time to crack open yet another crate. Once that was done, we moved to the location of the second demolition charge, which was situated next to the ramp leading down to the loading platform.

Compared to all the firefights we'd faced so far, the fight on the loading platform was pretty easy. Having the high ground, it was easy for me to take out a blithely unaware geth trooper with a sniper shot, before switching over to tackle the second trooper with my pistol. Kaidan and Ashley, meanwhile, had their attention firmly on the husks that were stationed there, and were firing away before they even got off their platforms. As soon as the second trooper was down, I pivoted to target the closest geth... only to see them fly back across the platform, as if they were hit by an invisible flyswatter and over the edge. I glanced over my shoulder and nodded my thanks at Kaidan, who I guessed was responsible for that impressive display of biotics. He nodded back, saying only: "I'd rather not have my shields drained again. Or anyone else's, sir."

We searched the loading platform to sweep out any more hostiles. There weren't any, as it turned out, but it provided a nice excuse for me to loot a few more crates. Some of them even had locks on them for me to hack. Eventually, there was nothing left to do but meet up by the beacon and call in the Normandy.

I must admit, that beacon was something else. Imagine a base that would be cubical, were it not for a concave depression in the front. Jutting out of that depression was some kind of metal dorsal fin, bathed in a field of green energy that was gently floating up like a waterfall on reverse. Almost as impressive as the mass relays, come to think of it.

Anyways, I activated my helmet comm to contact the Normandy. As I did so, I overheard Kaidan marvelling at the fact that he was seeing this actual legacy of Prothean technology, intact and operational. Ashley, for her part, exclaimed that it seemed to be dormant when the researchers first dug it up. "Normandy, the beacon is secure," I reported. "Requesting immediate evac. Lock in on my coordinates."

"Understood," Joker replied. "Normandy is inbound. ETA: nine minutes, twenty seconds."

"Roger, Normandy," I said. "Standing by."

With nothing else to do, I turned around to chat with Kaidan... only to see two things. One, the green energy field around the Prothean beacon had suddenly and inexplicably flared up. Two, it was dragging Ashley towards it like some kind of black hole.

Without thinking, I shoved Kaidan aside and leapt towards Ashley. Getting a firm grip on her, I pivoted and yanked her away. That successfully got her away from the mass effect field or whatever the beacon was generating. Unfortunately, it meant that I was now firmly caught in its grasp.

The next thing I knew, I was levitating above the ground. A few random images suddenly popped up in my head. Behind me, I heard Ashley call out "Shepard!" while Kaidan cried "No! Don't touch him. It's too dangerous!" Then...

...computer parts...

...machines...

...opening jaws...

...circuitry embedded in tissue...

...kneeling over a corpse, broken ruins behind...

I felt a violent push, shoving me back onto the ground. Looking up through a rapidly growing haze of black, I could see the smoking, dead remains of what used to be the Prothean beacon. The last thing I thought, before I lost consciousness, was:

This had better not come out of my paycheque.

* * *

_(1): Mission reports from Shepard and the various officers that served with him indicate that he had a borderline obsession with searching every nook and cranny and taking anything he could get his hands on, either to augment the weapons and equipment of his squad or sell for credits at the earliest opportunity. A common joke was that the only way to keep something from him was to hide it in a cave and collapse the entrance. _

_(2): Heads-Up Display, a system used to visually provide data without taking one's attention away from the battlefield. _

_(3): Technically, a squad should contain eight to ten individuals. Shepard's group of three would, at best, qualify as an understaffed "team" or "fire-team". While the Normandy was fully staffed, as Shepard noted earlier, there were not enough spare personnel at the time to form a full squad. _

_(4): A truncation for the slang-term "ground-pounders." Typically given to infantry, particularly those who have to move around on foot. _

_(5): Most soldiers carried a pistol, shotgun, assault rifle and sniper rifle, regardless of whether they were trained to use them or not. Despite my several years in the military, I still don't understand why carrying all that weight is standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Alliance... and just about everyone else, for that matter._

_(6): Shepard's term was later officially adopted to describe these synthetic zombies. _

_(7): A military slang term for "situation report," which provides a brief, concise summary of the state of affairs on the battlefield._

_(8): A slang term, short for "civilians." Often used for anyone who isn't military._

_(9): Electronic Counter-Measures._

_(10): A rather surprising move, given Shepard's frequent admissions of scrounging for supplies. However, his explanation of his rationale, which was as altruistic as it was unexpected, is probably the correct one._

_(11): Ironically, Shepard only used grenades once during his first mission as a Spectre._

_(12): Identification Friend or Foe._


	6. Personnel Report: Kaidan Alenko

_Editorial Note: Commander Shepard got to know several people during his pursuit of Saren, some of which actually accompanied him on his missions. While he __acknowledges__ his conversations with them in his personal logs, I found his personnel evaluations, which he did on each and every member of his crew, provided a more concise summary of his private thoughts, and have thus included them in this transcript. Readers should note that these evaluations were conducted after his mission was complete, and thus covers a number of conversations, some of which have not occurred at this point in the logs._

_To start, I present his thoughts on Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, the first squad member he met._

**Personnel Evaluation—Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko**

I don't know how Kaidan does it.

I mean, the guy totally beat the odds. After getting exposed to eezo_in utero_, he somehow managed to develop biotic abilities instead of brain cancer or some other terminal disease. Then he got stuck with the L2 implants without developing anything worse than migraines (according to Dr. Chakwas, most L2s wind up going nuts or something). And he insists on trying to fix the computer panel by the sleeper pods, outside the mess hall, even though all those bright flickering lights are guaranteed to trigger another migraine. Gotta give him props for perseverance: most of the other engineering crew are either too busy or too superstitious to touch it (apparently, they think that panel's cursed, and don't want to fix it out of fear that the curse will migrate to another, potentially more critical, system. One could still use that panel, so the flickering's more of an annoyance than anything else).

When I first met Kaidan, he was pretty quiet and kept to himself a lot. I wouldn't have known about him being a "L2" if I hadn't talked to Chakwas, and the "curse of the panel" came from a chat with one of the engineering crew. I figured he didn't want to be a party-pooper just because his head hurt. Or maybe he'd faced one too many morons who wet his or her (believe me, some women can be just as dense as men) pants over "a damn biotic freak."

Turns out it had nothing to do with that. Well, maybe a little, but the main reason was that he had learned some bitter lessons in the way the galaxy worked, and the value of self-control.

Of course, since he kept to himself, it took a while to learn all the sordid details. I probably would still be in the dark if I didn't persist in dragging him along every time I went ashore. **(1)** As we careened from one mess into another, he became more and more comfortable in talking with me, off the record. Still had to take baby steps to get him to talk, mind you. At first, all I could get out of him was his own tactical assessment of our missions. **(2)** Gradually, though, he started talking more and more about his past.

Apparently, after making contact with the Citadel, the Alliance realised that biotics were a big deal. So, the REMFs and geniuses in charge created a private company called Conatix Industries and told them to make bio-amps, track eezo exposures and train biotics. Oh, and they could do that any way they wanted, without any supervision or oversight.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that that was a spectacularly bad idea.

So, here's how the debacle unfolded. First, Conatix rounded up any biotic they could find. At the time, that meant all their candidates were teenagers. Now, I know that teens wanna rebel against their folks and run away, blah, blah, but Conatix and the Alliance brass took that a step further. Since the powers that be didn't want any grief from stupid parents worrying about their poor little babies, they told them that their kids were freaks. **(3)**

Those kids were then shipped off to Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training, or BAaT, located on Jump Zero. This cheerful little joint, which the kids nicknamed "Brain Camp," was totally off the grid. No outside contact. No extranet access. Officially, so no one would stumble across it. I'm guessing it's also because Conatix wanted the teachers to focus on their job and not go surfing for porn.

Well, it turned out that the Brain Camp teachers didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know how to deal with biotics, how to train biotics, or how to hang around them without breaking any limbs.

Eventually, they decided to 'fess up and admit they needed some help. But they didn't want to go through the Council. Bad enough they had to look weak in front of the human bigwigs, they didn't want to go through all that humiliation in front of the galactic bigwigs as well. So they hired a turian merc to play teacher. Of course, they kept that on the down-low as well. The First Contact War was still fresh in everybody's mind, and the public would probably be outraged to hear that Conatix was jumping in bed with the enemy (and that the Alliance brass was going right along with it).

This merc, whose name was Vyrnnus, was really old-school. Apparently he's served during the First Contact War, and he still had some bad feelings about humanity. Not enough to tell Conatix where they could shove their credits, mind you, but enough to take it out on a bunch of kids. He apparently felt that the best way to teach these human punks was to scare the crap out of them, and hold back food and drink unless the kids did some tricks like good little puppies. By Kaidan's account, "You either came out a superman or a wreck. A lot of kids snapped. A few died."

His first introduction to the kids was "I was at the helm of the dreadnought that killed your father." Kaidan spoke up and said that that was impossible in his case, since his dad wasn't even in the war. I doubt Kaidan was trying to be a smart-ass. He was probably just innocently pointing out a fact. But, from then on, Vyrnnus really hated his guts.

Things eventually came to a head, though, which I found out after a mission that went to hell (as if there's any other kind). I was in the midst of one of my bouts of mindless wandering, and dropped by to chat. **(4)** As usual, I started by asking for his tactical opinion of the mission, having learned that it was easier to segue from there into his personal musings. Our conversation eventually turned to Vyrnnus. After everything he's said about him, I marvelled that he didn't have a grudge or anything against the turian.

He shrugged. "Before I met Vyrnnus, I knew as much as any other civilian. Aliens were all the same: weird, superior always trying to tell us what to do. I mean, it was only three years since the First Contact War. That's not a lot of time to understand them.

"It was Vyrnnus who made me see how human aliens are. They're not different or special. They're jerks and saints, just like us. And Vyrnnus... well, he was definitely a jerk. Just like the bullies back at school, before I got shipped off to BAaT. Exactly like the bullies, the way he'd scare the shit out of everyone and single one guy out in particular for special punishment. Once I figured that out, somehow I stopped hating him. Hell, by the time I got payback, I didn't even want it anymore."

Kaidan never struck me as the kind of guy who'd want an eye for an eye, certainly not after his little revelation. "I don't see you as the kind of guy who'd want payback. Not after all the missions we've gone on. Not after our conversations. So what finally did it?"

"He hurt Rahna," he replied quietly. "Broke her arm."

I remembered Kaidan mentioning her earlier. She was another "guest" at BAaT. Smart, charming, gentle, and rich. Surprisingly enough, that last part didn't go to her head. Sounded like Kaidan had a bit of a crush on her.

While I was immersed in my memory recall, Kaidan went on. "She reached for a glass of water instead of pulling it biotically. She just wanted a drink without getting a nosebleed, you know? Like an idiot, I stood up. Didn't know what I was gonna do. Just something."

Only natural, I suppose. Easy to be the teacher's punching bag if there's a smile from a special someone to take away the pain at the end of the day. Not so easy when that special someone _becomes _the punching bag.

Kaidan continued. "Before I could tell him to leave her alone, get in front of her... before I could do anything... Vyrnnus lost it. Started beating the crap out of me. Kept shouting about how they should have bombed us back to the Stone Age. **(5)** That's when the knife came up. A military-issue talon. **(6)** Right in the face.

"I cut loose. Full biotic kick, right in the teeth. Almost as strong as I can manage now. At seventeen, that's something."

I had to agree, recalling how his biotics could send hostiles hurtling backwards. To this day, I still remember when he "cut loose" on the husks at the Eden Prime loading dock. Last I saw, those creepy glowing zombies were caught in the branches of some trees below the dock, wriggling like a fish on a hook... but that wasn't important right now.

"You wanted to help a girl you cared for," I tried to reassure him. "That's a noble thing."

Kaidan didn't see it that way. "Maybe my intentions were noble. But I... I lost control. I killed him, Shepard. Snapped his neck. They probably could've saved him, if they got him to an infirmary quick enough. But they didn't.

"Caused a stir when they shipped him home. BAaT training was shut down. Conatix folded a couple years later. **(7)** So yeah, maybe I hated that turian. I mean, if one ass was enough to judge a whole race, I'd hate humans too."

I'll admit, I almost didn't catch his last words. This guy had been ripped away from his family and had to suffer a teacher who went way beyond any reasonable definition of corporal punishment. But when he finally got his revenge, both on Vyrnnus and BAaT, he didn't want it. Even after all the crap he'd been through, he still chose to enlist in the Alliance, and he didn't become a bitter bigot in the process. I couldn't help but be impressed.

"A reasonable stance," I said finally. "Keep that level head and we'll do fine."

"Being reasonable's about all we have left," Kaidan responded. "Everyone else seems to have gone out of their minds. Present company excepted, of course," he hastily added.

With a reassuring nod to let him know I wasn't offended, I left to trot through the rest of the ship. Kaidan's words stuck with me for a while, though. I had wondered, from time to time, if making him assistant squad leader was a good idea. After all, that meant he wasn't always around to watch my back in person. However, that conversation reassured me that my decision, as impetuous as it might have been, was the right one to make. **(8)**

* * *

_(1): A term used to describe when crew members leave a ship. The term has not changed, even though their vessel no longer floats on a body of water, nor do crew members usually walk onto an actual shoreline. _

_(2): As Shepard discusses these missions in other personal logs, they need not concern us for the time being._

_(3): Technically, the parents were informed that biotic abilities were dangerous, and thus, their children were a danger to themselves and the people around them. Regardless, it is still a distasteful and little-known aspect of human history. _

_(4): Shepard developed a reputation for these periodic strolls throughout the Normandy. While it did serve to establish stronger ties with the crew, and with his squad members in particular, it also caused no end of confusion and bewilderment, as crew members would often see him pop in a room, walk around and depart without saying a word. In particular, he was infamous for occasionally walking in, coming to a sudden halt, making an about-face, and leaving as mysteriously as he had arrived. _

_(5): Turians have a prodigious work ethic that drives them to finish whatever they started. This extends to their style of warfare, which is designed to devastate their enemy until they are forced to become a colony of the Turian Hierarchy, and will never pose a threat again. Some turians, like Vyrnnus feel bitter about the Council's intervention before the First Contact War could reach any "real resolution," and turned their resentment against humanity._

_(6): The turian term for a knife, presumably stemming from their avian origins. Some Alliance officers have adopted the term since the First Contact War. _

_(7): Readers will recall that lessons were learned from this sad event and applied in the Ascension Project. While this successor to BAaT did serve as a development and testing ground for the new L4 implants, and a platform to help biotics develop their skills, it did diverge from BAaT in several notable areas: it was not a military (or military-industrial) project, it invited civilian support, visits (particularly from family members) and input, and it strived to teach biotics how to integrate into the rest of human society._

_(8): Despite the fact that he hadn't served with him for very long, the Eden Prime mission evidently convinced Shepard that Lt. Alenko was not the kind of man who was impulsive enough to get himself, or Shepard, into too much trouble. Shepard subsequently promoted Lt. Alenko, albeit unofficially, to the position of assistant squad leader. This meant that he was the effective second-in-command of the squad in general, and would take charge of one of the fire-teams if Shepard chose to divide up the squad. Shepard's faith in his level-headed steadiness would be rewarded time and time again. _


	7. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I woke up sometime later, with one hell of a headache. A headache that was exacerbated when I had the dumb idea to open my eyes. Damn, that light was bright! I decided, quite wisely, I thought, that I should go right back to sleep.

Unfortunately, someone had been watching me. "Doctor?" a female voice said. "Doctor Chakwas? I think he's waking up?"

It was that chief we'd encountered on Eden Prime. Ashley. I opened my eyes again and forced myself to sit up. We were on the Normandy. Back room of the sickbay, if I remembered correctly. What was she doing here?

"You had us worried there, Shepard," I heard Doctor Chakwas say from behind. Before I could turn my head, she walked around into my line of sight. "How are you feeling?"

"Minor throbbing. Nothing serious," I lied, deciding to present a stiff upper lip, as the Brits say. Good for my reputation, don't you know. "How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours," Dr. Chakwas replied. "Something happened down there with the beacon, I think."

"It's my fault," Ashley said ruefully. "I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."

"You had no way to know what would happen," I reassured her. She smiled.

"Actually, we don't even know if that's what set it off," corrected Dr. Chakwas. "Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

Ashley jumped in again. "The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe. The blast knocked you cold. The Lieutenant and I carried you back here to the ship."

"I appreciate it," I thanked her.

Was that a blush I saw on her? Hard to say. My vision was still clearing up.

"Physically, you're fine," Dr. Chakwas took over. "But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

She paused, clearly expecting some kind of explanation from me. I tried to dredge up the bewildering mass of information that had overloaded my brain. "I saw-" I began, before pausing. "I'm not sure what I saw," I admitted. "Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear." Maybe once my headache died down, I could recall some more details.

"Hmmm," Dr. Chakwas said. "I'd better add this to my report."

Great, I thought. I can just see the headlines now: "Hero of the Blitz (Finally) Loses Mind on Simple Shakedown Run!"

"It may..." She stopped as the doors hissing open and the boss walked in. "Oh. Captain Anderson."

"How's our XO holding up, Doctor?" he asked.

"All the readings look normal. I'd say the commander's going to be fine," she reported.

"Glad to hear it," Anderson nodded. "Shepard, I need to speak with you. In private."

Ashley got the hint. "Aye, aye, Captain. I'll be in the mess if you need me." She left, with Dr. Chakwas right behind her.

As soon as the doors closed, Anderson continued. "Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. You sure you're okay?"

I sidestepped his query, as touching as it was, and said the first thing that popped in my still-pounding head: "I don't like soldiers dying under my command."

"Jenkins wasn't your fault," he reassured me. "You did a good job, Shepard."

Clearly, someone had filed an AAR. **(1)** Probably Kaidan.

With that out of the way, I was free to inquire about something that had caught my notice: "Chief Williams isn't part of the Normandy crew."

Anderson forgave my stating the perfectly obvious. "I figured we could use a soldier like her. She's been reassigned to the Normandy."

Well, that was his prerogative as CO. Not that I had anything against that. She was a good soldier who earned a better posting than garrison duty on some once-boring colony, and I said as much.

"Lieutenant Alenko agrees with you," Anderson said. "That's why I added her to our crew."

Makes sense. I wasn't going to be giving any recommendations while I was out for the count. Nice to know Kaidan and I saw eye-to-eye on that matter.

"You said you needed to see me in private, Captain," I prompted, getting to business.

Anderson straightened and put his hands behind his back. "I won't lie to you, Shepard," he said quietly. "Things look bad. Nihlus is dead. The beacon was destroyed and geth are invading. The Council's going to want answers."

"I didn't do anything wrong, Captain," I pointed out. "Hopefully, the Council can see that." Fat chance. In my experience, politicians are infinitely more likely to see things that pad their own bottom line, cover their asses, or look good for the gullible masses.

Anderson must have sensed my doubts. "I'll stand behind you and your report, Shepard," he reassured me. "You're a damn hero in my books. That's not why I'm here. It's Saren. That other turian. Saren's a Spectre."

Oh crap.

"One of the best. A living legend," he continued. "But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre's trouble. Saren's dangerous. And he hates humans."

"Why?" I immediately asked, his last comment overriding any smart-ass remarks I might have made about an elite covert stalker who was the best of the best.

"He thinks we're growing too fast, taking over the galaxy," he explained. "A lot of aliens think that way. __Most of them don't do anything about it. But Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how. I don't know why. I only know it had something to do with that beacon." He paused. "You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?"

By now, the headache had died down to a dull roar, enough that I could focus on recovering a few random images from that earlier brain dump. What I saw made even me pause. "I saw synthetics," I said eventually. "Geth, maybe. Slaughtering people. Butchering them."

Anderson let out a breath. "We need to report this to the Council, Shepard."

"What are we going to tell them? I had a bad dream?" I retorted sarcastically.

In hindsight, that wasn't exactly proper protocol to my superior. Still, Captain Anderson struck me as the kind of guy who was okay with a little sarcasm now and then. **(2)**

"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon," Anderson replied, confirming my opinion. "Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it."

He started pacing. "But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war. He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy."

Despite my lingering headache, I could tell that this Saren was really freaking out the captain. I wasn't sure why, but he definitely seemed rattled. "I'll find some way to take him down," I said, hoping to reassure him.

Apparently, my efforts failed. "It's not that easy," he explained. "He's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the Council on _our _side."

"We prove Saren's gone rogue and the Council will revoke his Spectre status," I realized. And then he'd be a much smaller headache for us. No pun intended.

"I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council," Anderson continued, pleased that I'd put the pieces together. "He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel." He started to turn, and then paused. "We should be getting close. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us into dock."

Anderson then left; leaving me to make sure I could get onto my feet and walk without spewing the contents of my last meal. Once I was confident I wouldn't do anything to embarrass myself, I left the sickbay.

After chatting with Dr. Chakwas and Ashley, I walked up to the bridge. **(3)** I nodded to Pressly, pleased that I didn't get an attack of vertigo by doing so. He nodded back, saying that it was good to see me and that losing Jenkins was hard enough on the crew. Good to see I wasn't the only one who felt bad about Jenkins, even if he did walk right into it.

* * *

I made it to the bridge just in time to see our final approach towards a mass relay. While he finished the last preparations for our jump, Joker glanced up and saw me. "Good timing, Commander," he grinned. "I was just about to bring us into the Citadel. Guess you wanna see that taxpayer money at work."

Seeing that Joker didn't need the captain's instructions after all, I just stood by and enjoyed the ride. This time, I could see what it looked like to travel through a mass relay, though I'd be hard-pressed to explain it to someone who hasn't experienced it. To say we were travelling through a wondrous tunnel of blue swirls and purple whorls doesn't really do it justice. Alliance Recruitment should really mention that sort of thing. Tapping into all that romanticism the civvies have about the military oughta fill up the quota in no time.

Anyways, the trip ended all too soon. We popped back into normal space next to another mass relay and promptly entered a nebula. For the next few minutes, the Normandy swept through what looked like a thick blue fog. Occasionally, there were breaks and gaps where I could see some kind of structure. Then, we cleared the fog and we saw... the Citadel.

At first, it wasn't that impressive. A ring with five structures jutting out at equal intervals, with a long rectangular arm perpendicular to each structure. Big deal, right? Then I took a closer look. The entire Citadel was _huge_! Massive! Each of those arms was completely filled with orange lights, like viewing an enormous cityscape from orbit! There must have been millions of individuals aboard that thing, not to mention all the ships buzzing around it.

As we got closer, I could see the Citadel rotating ever so slightly. While it probably had element zero cores to generate mass-effect fields, I surmised that the Citadel relied on centripetal motion as a primary means of generating gravity. I heard some footsteps behind me, and turned to see Kaidan and Ashley. The former nodded his greetings, while the latter eagerly ran towards the window.

"Look at the size of that ship!" Ashley cried excitedly, pointing to a particularly large dreadnought like a kid on a trip to the museum.

"The Ascension," Kaidan identified quietly, almost like the parent of the aforementioned kid. "Flagship of the Citadel fleet."

"Well, size isn't everything," Joker muttered.

"Why so touchy, Joker," Ashley teased.

"I'm just saying you need firepower, too," Joker responded defensively.

Ashley leaned forward. I was half expecting her to press her cheek against the window. "Look at that monster! Its main gun could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet."

"Good thing she's on our side, then," Kaidan commented. __At this point, Joker activated the comm. "Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy, requesting permission to land."

"Stand by for clearance, Normandy," a disembodied voice replied. After a pause, the voice continued. "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

"Roger, Citadel Control," Joker confirmed in a professional manner. "Normandy out."

"Normandy, this is Alliance Tower," a new voice broke in. "Please proceed to dock 422."

* * *

_Editorial Note: Shepard skips over the next few events, which involve the docking of the Normandy, and how he, Lieutenant Alenko, Chief Williams and I went to the human embassy. His personal log picks up again a half hour later, just before we entered the ambassador's office._

I can tell you from personal experience that the walls of the embassies are not soundproof. Otherwise, we would have never heard Ambassador Udina ranting away.

"This is an outrage!" we heard him yell. "The Council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony!"

At this point, we entered the ambassador's office. The ambassador was talking to a hologram of a turian, an asari and a salarian, all of whom were in robes. Well, perhaps the original intent was to talk. **(4) **

"Turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, _Ambassador_," the salarian replied stiffly. I gathered that this motley trio was the illustrious Citadel Council.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse," the asari councillor said soothingly, perhaps trying to calm everyone down.

If that was her intent, she failed. "What about Saren?" Udina snapped. "You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre. I demand action!"

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador," the turian councillor said tersely.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren," the asari councillor added, calmly but firmly. "We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before."

With that, the holograms faded away. The ambassador turned around and I had my first face-to-face encounter with Donnel Udina, humanity's representative to the Citadel races. Proof, if any was needed, that the universe has a seriously warped sense of humour.

"Captain Anderson," he greeted crankily. "I see you brought half your crew with you."

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime," Anderson replied. "In case you had any questions."

"I have the mission reports," Udina snapped back. I noticed the peculiar manner in which he spoke: quickly and crisply, as if he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, while enunciating every syllable to make no mistake as to what he was saying. "I assume they're accurate."

"They are," Anderson said, ignoring the less-than-subtle implication. He moved on, with an ease that I found quite impressive under the circumstances: "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience."

"They were not happy about it," Udina acknowledged sourly. "Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

It seemed like our ambassador needed some reminding that this was more serious than his typical game of intergalactic politics. "Saren's a threat to every human colony out there," I pointed out. "He needs to be stopped. The Council _has_ to listen to us."

"Settle down, Commander," the ambassador scowled. "You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres. The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!"

"That's Saren's fault, not his!" Anderson said angrily, coming to my defence.

"Then we'd better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusation," Udina grumbled. "Otherwise, the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres." And wouldn't that be a shame for you, I thought acidly, forgetting about the implications of a human Spectre for humanity's future and, more importantly, my ability to stay out of those pesky dangerous situations.

"Come with me, Captain," Udina snapped, interrupting my train of thought. "I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard—you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower," he ordered the rest of us. "Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in."

Ashley managed to hold it in long enough for Udina and Anderson to leave before muttering "And that's why I hate politicians."

* * *

One thing I'll say about the Citadel: it has one heck of a transit system. It only took a minute to exit the embassy and find a rapid transit station, and four minutes to go to the Citadel Tower. Specifically, the Council Chambers, where all those really important decisions are made. I liked, and still like, what they did with the place. Large, open space. Warm tones on the floor and walls. The entire ceiling made up of a skylight that provided a perfect view of the nebula. And stairs. Lots of stairs.

We jogged up one flight of stairs and entered a circular foyer, surrounding some kind of rock garden. There were two turians, having a rather heated discussion. "Saren's hiding something!" one of them, who looked a bit younger, said. Instantly, my ears pricked up. "Give me more time," he pleaded. "Stall them."

"Stall the Council?" the second, older turian scoffed. He had some kind of facial tattoo, similar to Nihlus. "Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus."

The older turian walked off. The younger one turned, saw us, and walked over. He also had a tattoo, though his was confined to a thin blue horizontal line running underneath his eyes. He was also sporting some kind of personal HUD. Looked like someone chopped one of those glasses you see all the time in half, replaced the lens with a computer screen, and hooked it behind the turian's left ear. **(5) **__

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian," he introduced himself. "I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

I was curious to know how he recognized me. Somehow, what came out of my mouth was: "Who were you just talking to?"

"That was Executor Pallin, head of Citadel Security. My boss," Garrus answered. "He'll be presenting my findings on Saren to the Council." While most of his words were spoken in a professional manner, the way he said Saren sounded more... emotional. "Sounds like you really want to bring him down," I probed.

Garrus took the bait. "I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence."

"I think the Council's ready for us by now, Commander," Kaidan spoke up.

"Good luck, Shepard," Garrus nodded. "Maybe they'll listen to you."

Leaving Garrus behind, the three of us ran up another flight of stairs, into some kind of larger chamber. Trees resembling the cherry trees of Earth and some rock formations were scattered throughout the room. We weaved back and forth, dodging the various diplomats and officers who were involved in numerous conversations towards two more sets of stairs. Captain Anderson was waiting for us, halfway up the first set.

As we climbed the stairs towards him, Kaidan commented "You sure have to climb a lot of stairs to reach the Council. Think that's supposed to be symbolic of their importance?"

"I bet all these staircases aren't just for show," Ashley replied. "They make for good defensive positions if this place is ever attacked."

Suppressing my own thoughts about how it inflated the egos of a certain trio who were probably way too impressed with themselves, I nodded a greeting to Captain Anderson, who nodded back impatiently.

"The hearing's already started. Come on," he urged.

Together, we finally scaled the last few sets of stairs and walked across a thin ramp that jutted over a glass floor, which acted as a ceiling for another room below. At the end of the ramp stood Ambassador Udina. Across a wide gulf stood the three head honchos of the galaxy, the big cheeses amongst all big cheeses; the Citadel Council.

"The geth attack is a matter of some importance," the asari councillor was saying. "But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way."

I was less interested in all the yapping that was going on, and more interested in the enormous hologram of a turian projected at the right of The Powers That Be. **(6)** It was kinda hard to miss him, seeing how the hologram was a couple stories tall. His facial features were almost skeletal, and were perched on a neck that seemed to have some kind of set of implants wrapped around the back of his neck. His left arm looked mechanical, like he had had to replace it with a prosthetic at some point, and chose function and intimidation over aesthetics. I had to wonder whether TPTB noticed the contradictory symbolism that was being displayed here.

"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," added the turian councillor.

Apparently TPTB _didn't_ notice the symbolism. Either that, or they just didn't care. Or were too sheltered to know better. Probably all three.

"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood," Udina fumed. I started to wonder if he was always this hostile.

It was the salarian councillor's turn to speak up. "We've read the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof." I hated to admit it, but TPTB had a point. On the other hand, what did they expect? Their so-called internal investigation was assigned to one cop, or their equivalent of a cop, who had to wrap things up before we arrived from Eden Prime. Kinda short notice, dontcha think?

"I resent these accusations," the hologram, presumably Saren, spoke up. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend."

"That's just let you catch him off guard," Anderson yelled back, much to my surprise.

"Captain Anderson," Saren acknowledged. "You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me."

Always involved, I wondered. What was he talking about?

"And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."

"The mission to Eden Prime was top secret," I pointed out. "The only way you could know about the beacon was if you were there!"

"With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me," he corrected. "I read the Eden Prime report. I was unimpressed." He turned and looked down at TPTB. Or looked down on TPTB, I thought, the peculiar symbolism coming to mind again. "But what can you expect," he asked them, "from a _human_?"

"Something you want to say?" I asked mildly, hoping to goad him into a response. Successfully, as it turned out.

"Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard," Saren told me contemptuously. "You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres."

"He has no right to say that!" Udina seethed furiously. "That's not his decision!"

"Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting," the asari councillor quietly told Saren.

"This meeting has no purpose," Saren replied. "The humans are wasting your time, Councillor. And mine."

"Saren's hiding behind his position as a Spectre. You need to open your eyes," I piped up. In for a penny, in for a pound...

"What we need is evidence," the salarian councillor said. "So far, we've seen nothing."

"There's still one outstanding issue," Anderson spoke again. "Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

What? How did my AAR bounce from the Normandy to Alliance HQ to the Citadel so quickly? And why the heck was Captain Anderson bringing that particular pointup? I corrected my earlier position: we _did _have something more to lose, and we just lost it. Now TPTB were going to think humanity was a pack of loonies. Mind you, they might be on to something...

Saren was equally incredulous. "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

The turian councillor apparently decided to support his fellow.... well, turian. "I agree. Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."

"Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" asked the salarian councillor.

Yeah, I wanted to say. I wanted to add that we wouldn't be resorting to so-called 'wild imaginings and reckless speculation' if you were actually interested in conducting a proper internal investigation, one with the necessary time and resources to gather your 'facts and evidence.' I also wanted to add that we newbies aren't so green; we can't recognize a whitewash from a kangaroo court when we see it. While I wasn't that stupid, I did convey my feelings: "You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath."

The asari councillor looked at the turian councillor, who shook his head. Without waiting for the salarian councillor, either because he had signalled his opinion in some hidden way or because the Council believed in the value of majority rule, the asari councillor declared their ruling: "The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

Saren had to rub it in our faces before he shut down the hologram. "I'm glad to see justice was served."

"This meeting is adjourned," the asari councillor concluded.

* * *

Dejected, Captain Anderson, Kaidan, Ashley and I walked back across the ramp and down the (first two) flights of stairs. We waited for the ambassador to show up. Not surprisingly, his first few words were an accusation.

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives."

"I know Saren," Anderson replied dramatically. "He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race."

Ooookaaaaay.

"Every colony we have is at risk."

Uh huh.

"Every world we control is in danger."

If you say so.

"Even Earth isn't safe."

Enough was enough. Granted, there was no way we could've won against TPTB's determination to protect their favourite pet. But my captain's antics certainly didn't help. __"Tell me about this history between you and Saren," I said, hoping to calm him down.

To my relief, it did. "I worked with him on a mission a long time ago," he explained. "Things went bad. Real bad." He glanced around, pointedly looking at all the politicians, military brass and other bigwigs walking around. "We shouldn't talk about this here. But I know what he's like. And he has to be stopped." He emphasized that last point by slapping his fist into the palm of his hand.

"What's our next step," I asked.

Udina scratched his chin thoughtfully. "As a Spectre, Saren's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him."

Kaidan had a brainwave. "What about Garrus, that C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor."

"That's right!" Ashley said. "He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren."

Better than nothing, I thought. "Any idea where we could find him?" I asked, turning to Udina and Anderson.

"I have a contact in C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down," Udina answered. "His name is Harkin."

"Forget it," Anderson interrupted. "They suspended him last month. Drinking on the job," he added contemptuously. "I won't waste my time on that loser."

"You won't have to," Udina replied in his usual abrupt manner. "I don't want the council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this."

"You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of this investigation," I protested.

Anderson shook his head. "The ambassador's right. I need to step aside." I couldn't really argue any more. I was thinking the same thing just a minute ago.

"I need to take care of some business," Udina concluded. "Captain, meet me in my office later." With that order, he walked away. Anderson turned to me.

"Harkin's probably getting drunk in Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the Wards."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said he was a drunken loser."

"Couldn't hurt to go talk to him," Anderson shrugged. "Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable."

"You don't think much of Harkin," I observed.

"The guy joined C-Sec about twenty years ago. He's been an embarrassment to our species ever since. Roughing up suspects in custody, bribery accusations, alcohol and drug use. The embassy used to step in when he got in trouble, but I guess enough was enough."

"If he's that much of a scumbag, why wasn't he cut loose a long time ago?" I asked.

"He was one of the first human C-Sec officers. Guess it would have looked bad if he got fired. A lot of backroom deals were worked out over the years to keep him on the force. Politics is a dirty business sometimes. But it looks like his time's run out. We've got enough humans in C-Sec now to stop protecting him."

"Maybe there's another way to find evidence against Saren," I speculated out loud.

"You should talk to Barla Von. Over in the Financial District. Rumour has it he's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"The Shadow Broker?" Ashley repeated.

"An information dealer. Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. I've heard Barla Von's one of his top representatives. He might know something about Saren. But his information won't come cheap."

I pumped the captain for more information. Anything to stall for time, I guess. I learned that the Shadow Broker bought, traded and sold intelligence to just about everybody... which was probably why the galaxy hadn't collapsed into total chaos by now. I also found out some more information about Barla Von: the guy diplomats, Spectres, and really rich individuals go to if they want to cut a deal or invest some credits but need help finding the right legal loophole. For the hell of it, I also asked him what he knew about the Spectres. Most of it I'd heard before, but he was certainly more informative and reliable than my other sources. Eventually, he finished what he had to say, and looked at me expectedly. "Anything else, Commander?"

Seeing that I couldn't find a good reason to ask him where the closest bar was, I settled for satisfying my disgustingly insatiable curiosity. "Our ambassador doesn't seem to get along with the Council."

"He's just frustrated," Anderson said, sounding more than a little frustrated himself. "The Council's always preaching that we need to be part of the galactic community. But for them, it's a one-way street. They want us to expand and settle unstable regions like the Skyllian Verge and the Attican Traverse. But when we run into trouble, they don't want to help us out."

Sounds familiar, I thought darkly.

"Everyone knows it's only a matter of time until we get a seat on the Council. The ambassador just thinks it should happen sooner rather than later. And I agree."

"Maybe they'd let us join the Council if we were more willing to cooperate with the other species," I said sarcastically.

Anderson echoed my sarcasm. "Of _course_ they would! If we did everything they told us to, they'd love to have us on the council. But it wouldn't be much of a deal for us. I understand their side," he conceded. "They don't want us dominating the Council. It's founded on cooperation and alliances. But we have to look out for our own interests, too."

Speaking of our own interests, it was time to get moving. I didn't like all the grief my reputation had brought me—heaven knows it usually outweighed the benefits that come with being a "hero." I certainly didn't like the prospect of being considered to join the Spectres, and all the extra trouble that came with it. But I'd be damned if I let some creepy elite covert stalker drag my name, and humanity's, through the interstellar equivalent of mud. "I should go," I said.

Anderson nodded. "Good luck, Shepard. I'll be over in the ambassador's office if you need anything else."

He turned and left me to play amateur detective, apparently confident that my total lack of training or experience in investigations made me the perfect man for the job.

Maybe he has a warped sense of humour, too.

* * *

_(1): After Action Report: this summarizes how the mission went from the writer's point of view._

_(2): As usual, Shepard's keen awareness and perception were correct. Generally, I knew when to crack the whip and when to let things slide. In this case, there were far more important things to worry about._

_(3): The details of Shepard's conversations with Gunnery Chief Williams are covered in his personnel evaluation, and need not concern us at this point._

_(4): Probably not. Shepard didn't know at the time, but calling Ambassador Udina's style of diplomacy "aggressive" was a definite understatement._

_(5): Shepard is exaggerating on the frequency of seeing glasses, as they were rendered obsolete after the introduction of genetic enhancements into human society. While there were strict laws about what could be enhanced, and even stricter ones about not adding anything extra,____correcting any predisposition to poor eyesight was perfectly legal. As a side note, research through historical archives suggests that the most likely candidate for this "ancient" style of glasses was actually quite popular during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries._

_(6): While Shepard was always careful to refer to the Citadel Councillors by their proper address when talking to anyone else, in public or in private, he seems to have adopted this disparaging nickname for the Citadel Council as a whole for his own personal use._


	8. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I decided to start my stint as the Galaxy's Amateur Detective by going to Barla Von. I could say I chose him because a financial guru sounded more promising than a corrupt drunk. But, to be honest, I chose him because I didn't like Udina, and it was Udina who recommended the other guy.

So we went to the Financial District, located on the Presidium of the Citadel. I never really paid much attention to the decor while we were at the embassy, which, by the way, was also located on the Presidium. Now that I had a chance to look around, it kind of reminded me of the Council Chambers, what with all the large open spaces filled with flora. The Presidium, however, was a lot brighter, which might have had something to do with the starkly modern and monochromatic white floors and walls. It was a lot bigger, too. The walls seemed to stretch up and up and up, finally stopping at a see-through "ceiling" that seemed to display wisps of white clouds on a bright summer day, though I learned that was actually a series of enormous vid-panels displaying that skyscape. You could probably fit a couple Council Chambers in the Presidium. Lush abodes of plant life was scattered all around us: copses of giant trees, fields of grass, even a freshwater pond filled with fish. I later learned that the Presidium also had systems to simulate natural breezes and natural sunlight.

Maybe it was all that open space, but there didn't seem to be a ton of people milling around. Oh, there were definitely people of various races milling about, all dressed up like they were Somebody, but it didn't exactly strike me as crowded.

Barla Von's office was in the financial district, just outside the rapid transit terminal. Kaidan, Ashley and I emerged from the terminal, looked around, and made a bee-line for the office, bypassing some insectoid alien who was doing something with a nearby computer panel. "It sure is peaceful here," Kaidan commented. "This place is a little too perfect," Ashley rebutted. "Like they're hiding something." Before any of us could respond, the door to Barla Von's office hissed open, and we walked in.

Barla Von was pretty much like every other volus I'd seen. Round: check. Wearing a pressure suit: check. Breather making a hissing noise that heralded every sentence he spoke: check. He was busy typing away at his computer when I walked in, flanked by Kaidan and Ashley, but not so busy that he didn't notice my arrival.

"What's this," he said in a pleasant voice. "One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes? You are the one called Shepard. It is a great honour to welcome the Hero of the Blitz." Oh, for crying out loud. Not _that_ again!

I suppressed my irritation, with a skill that can only be honed after years of practise, and smiled at the volus. "You've got me at a disadvantage here." Of course, I was lying. But he didn't know that.

"Forgive me, Earth-clan," Barla Von apologized. "My name is Barla Von. My job makes it necessary for me to keep informed. I am a financial advisor to many important clients here on the Citadel. When someone as important as yourself arrives on the station, I take notice."

We could have kept exchanging pleasantries for a while longer but... well, I was getting bored. Never a good idea to let me get bored. Things start getting hacked or breaking down when I get bored. Before I did something I might regret, I cut to the chase. "I heard you work for the Shadow Broker. Do you have any information about Saren?"

Barla Von, or more accurately, his breather, hissed. "You're very blunt, Shepard. But you're right. I am an agent for the Shadow Broker. And I do know something about Saren."

"I hear your information can be expensive," I prodded.

"Normally, this information would cost a small fortune," he admitted. "But these are exceptional circumstances. So I am going to give it to you for free."

"What's the catch?" Ashley asked suspiciously.

"There is no catch," he replied. "The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now. They used to do a lot of business. Until Saren turned on him."

"Saren's turned on a lot of people lately," I sympathized.

"I don't know the details, but the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to deal with it. A krogan mercenary named Urdnot Wrex. I heard he might be paying a visit to Citadel Security. You may be able to catch him there before he leaves."

"Isn't it strange that a krogan mercenary, or any mercenary, for that matter, would _want_ to speak with C-Sec?" I asked sceptically.

"Very," came the response. "However, I doubt the visit was entirely his choice. You'll need to speak with him if you want to learn more."

Per my usual habit, I grilled him for any random information he might be willing to share. I learned that the Presidium was for the elite, while the Wards are for entertainment and action. Barla Von didn't know much about the Shadow Broker, and was perfectly content to keep things that way in order to keep his hide intact, something I could relate to. He also explained how he knew every legal loophole there was in the financial world, and used that knowledge to help his clients. Seeing how I had no use for that sort of skill, I soon departed. **(1)**

"Where to, sir?" Ashley asked. "Are we going to find this krogan?"

"Wrex can wait for now," I replied. "Let's check out Chora's Den."

"You want to speak to Harkin, sir," Kaidan concluded.

I shrugged. "Why not? Besides, I could use a drink."

As we walked towards the rapid-transit terminal, I heard Ashley ask Kaidan "Is the commander actually going to drink on duty?" while Kaidan assured her "He's probably joking, Ash." It was good to know that the two of them were getting along. With any luck, they would work well as a team to keep our hides intact.

* * *

It didn't take long to reach Chora's Den. If that area of the Wards was like the rest of it, it was definitely the Hyde to the Presidium's Dr. Jekyll. Dark, closed in, artificial lighting, packed with people. Yep, we were definitely not in Kansas, anymore. **(2)** There was an open door, with a neon sign above helpfully pointing us to "Chora's Den: a gentleman's club for guests and inhabitants of the Wards."

We walked through the door into an open, by the standards of the Wards, anyways, square chamber. Pathways ran along the walls, with a waist-high fence separating us from a long pit that extended a couple stories down. The entrance to Chora's Den was located at the far left corner. Large neon silhouettes of female humans (or asari) flanked either side of the doorway.

What caught my attention were two men on the opposite end, one of whom pointed to me and told the other "That's him." The two pulled out pistols and started running towards us. Apparently, they wanted to get up close and personal before opening fire.

Unfortunately for them, I wasn't nearly as accommodating. I told Ashley and Kaidan to provide covering fire, which pinned them down at one of the corners. Once that was done, it was easy for me to sneak up and disable their shields. They were so preoccupied with Ashley and Kaidan, they didn't even notice. Either that, or the armour's sensors were shot. I took out my pistol, pointed it point-blank at the closest thug and cheerfully said "Hi! How're you doing?"

He jerked around and had just enough time to see the muzzle of my pistol before I fired. His companion jumped up in shock, popping right into the line of fire. Needless to say, he went down very quickly.

"Those were Saren's men," Kaidan observed when he and Ashley caught up with me. I just shrugged and motioned towards Chora's Den. Rather unimpressive and sloppy, in my opinion. Either Saren was really cheap in hiring his goons, or they were just way too overconfident. Made things more pleasant, though. I wish all battles were that relaxing. Of course, the downside of facing crummy opposition is that they rarely have anything worth swiping. In this case, there was nothing better than a handful of credits and a halfway decent shotgun from Ariake Technologies.

When we entered Chora's Den, it was clear that its patrons came for three reasons: to get deaf as quickly as possible, to drink themselves into a stupor as quickly as possible, and to ogle the flesh until their eyes dried out. Music was pounding from the speakers stationed around the large circular bar, which was situated in the centre of the club and took up most of the available space. There was a steady stream of customers sitting at the bar drinking or coming up to order various beverages. Asari in tight, skin-coloured leotards (which meant, under normal light, their outfits would be various shades of blue) continuously gyrated, either on top of the bar or at an area to our right that was apparently reserved for lap-dances.

As we moved towards one of the bartenders, I overheard Kaidan say "I can see why this place is so popular. It's got quite the... uh... view."

"Hey, Lieutenant," Ashley stage whispered. "Put your tongue back in your mouth before you trip on it."

Stifling a smile, I asked the bartender where I could find Harkin. She grimaced, and pointed at a guy slouched at a table on the other side of the bar. We rounded the corner and I got my first close-up look at Harkin. Bald, sour-faced, and a lot of stubble. From the looks of things, he'd been drinking for a while.

It took a while for him to notice us. When he did, a smirk spread over his face. "Alliance military. Hmmph. I coulda been a marine, you know. Instead I joined the goddamned Citadel Security. Biggest mistake of my life," he muttered.

"Harkin, right?" I said. "I was told you could help me find someone. A C-Sec officer named Garrus Vakarian."

"Garrus?" he exclaimed. "You must be part of Captain Anderson's crew." He must have seen the confused looks on our faces, as he broke out into a grin. "Heard Garrus was the one stuck with investigating Saren. Aside from him, Anderson's the only other bastard who's still tryin' to bring Saren down. I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the captain let you in on his big secret?"

"Is there something I should know about the captain," I said, answering his question with one of my own. A sly look crept over Harkin's face.

"The captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that, did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honour. And then he blew it. Screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out. 'Course, he blames Saren. Said the turian set him up."

"Anything else?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Have to ask him. I never heard any of the details. Bet it's a good story, though. The hero's fall. Classic tragedy," he laughed cruelly.

"You said they covered all this up," I pointed out. "How did you hear about it?"

"I spent twenty years working cases here on the Citadel. People on this station love to talk. Secrets are like herpes. If you got 'em, you might as well spread them around."

He laughed again, clearly amused with what passed for his sense of humour. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaidan and Ashley stiffen. Clearly, they were offended, and didn't think much of him. Neither did I, for that matter, but the day a pathetic drunk like him got under my skin, I'd resign my commission. Aware I was playing amateur detective, which dovetailed nicely with my personal and professional desire to find out anything and everything, I asked him how well he knew Anderson. His response was rather predictable.

"Met him a few times over the years. One of those hard-core military guys. Yes, sir! No, sir! Can't have any fun with a stick up your ass, sir!" he mocked. "Probably why he climbed the Alliance ranks so fast. The military loves brown-nosers."

"The captain's a good soldier," I corrected him mildly.

"Sure. Whatever," he waved a hand dismissively. "Dress him up in a fancy suit, pin some shiny medals on his chest, and call him a hero. Everybody else does. But if he's so great, why'd the Spectres kick him out? Why don't you go ask him about that?"

Ignoring his last words, I asked "What do you know about Garrus?"

"Damn hothead is what he is. Still figures he can save the galaxy. Always bucking heads with the executor. He'll pay for it soon enough. The executor loves to put us lowly field agents in our place. Just look what happened to me."

I wasn't going to inquire about that. Sometimes, though, people set things up so well, they're just asking for someone to poke around. "What happened to you?"

"The executor suspended me without pay—recurring violations. C-Sec was keeping a file on me. Can you believe that?" he asked indignantly. "Every mistake I ever made went into the books. Get a little rough with a suspect, note in the file. Have a couple of drinks on duty, note in the file. Skim a couple credits off a drug bust, note in the file. It's a goddamned witch hunt."

"You got off easy, if you asked me," I said without thinking.

"What the hell do you know?" he asked angrily. "Working for C-Sec isn't like being a marine. People get pissed off if you shoot someone. Investigations, inquiries, rules, regulations. Every day I plow through enough red tape to choke a rhino. That's how you gotta be to do this job. So don't talk to me about right and wrong. You soldiers got it easy."

Maybe I'd gone a bit too far. At this point, either he'd refuse to help us out of spite, or he would help just to get rid of us. Hoping that he'd do the latter, I asked him if he knew where we could find Garrus.

"Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the med clinic on the other side of the Wards. Last I heard, he was thinking of going back there."

I nodded my thanks and turned to leave, ignoring his parting remarks: "Yeah. Go. Let me drink in peace."

As we left Chora's Den, Ashley wondered aloud "Why didn't Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?"

"Maybe it's not true," Kaidan replied. "Harkin's an ass. I bet he's just messing with our heads."

"You're probably right," Ashley agreed. "Still, I'd like to hear what the captain has to say about this."

"We can always ask him later," I butted in, before they got too distracted. "For now, let's head over to C-Sec. Sounds like we have a good chance of meeting either Garrus or Wrex there."

Consulting my map, which I'd updated with the Citadel's tourism database, I found a shortcut that opened up fairly close to the entrance to C-Sec, as well as the med clinic run by the doctor Harkin had mentioned. That shortcut could be accessed by a stairway next to the rapid-transit terminal.

I decided to take the shortcut, as I wanted to see more of the Citadel. That proved to be a bit of a mistake. First, we went up a flight of stairs into a passageway that was dimly lit with reddish light panels. Then we went down a flight of stairs. Passed another insectoid alien, tinkering with another piece of equipment. Then we went up a flight of stairs again. I was starting to think that the Protheans, for all their strengths, were lousy interior planners. Either that, or the Prothean who designed the Citadel's layout was drunk at the time.

Eventually we emerged into the middle of another passageway. A helpful sign indicated that the elevator to our left could take us up to the Presidium. The doorway to our right led to the upper levels of the Wards. At last.

* * *

I should have continued on to C-Sec. But I didn't. Partly because the map said I'd have to go down _another_ flight of stairs and down _another _passageway towards an elevator that would finally get us there. Partly because I got distracted by the view out the window.

At first, I thought it was just another view of the nebula that surrounded the Citadel. As I moved to the window, my gaze wandered down to the rest of the Wards, which sprawled out before me as far as my eye could see.

Kaidan and Ashley joined me. "Big place," Kaidan said in awe.

"That your professional opinion, sir?" Ashley quipped.

"This isn't a station; it's a city," I agreed with Kaidan. Indeed, the Wards looked like a cityscape at night, with thousands of twinkling lights from the various buildings or that rapid-transit system I'd used so frequently. I had had a similar impression when the Normandy came in to dock earlier, but that paled in comparison to the spectacle before me.

"There must be millions here," Kaidan said in astonishment. "It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going."

"This makes Jump Zero look like a porta-john. And it's the largest deep-space station the Alliance has," Ashley observed.

"Jump Zero was big. But this is a whole 'nother scale," Kaidan disagreed. "Look at the Ward arms. How do they keep all that mass from flying apart?"

"The Council represents more races than I thought," I realized. "No wonder they're so careful with newcomers."

"They probably just want to keep everything running. It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together," Kaidan offered.

"Or maybe they just don't like humans," Ashley muttered darkly.

"All right, secure the chatter," I ordered, both to forestall any possible arguments and to get us back on track. "We're all FNG's here, but we don't need to make it obvious."

Ashley got the hint. "Aye, aye, Commander," she said.

We headed down the flight of stairs. The room below led to the passageway to the C-Sec elevator. The only other individuals there, aside from us, were yet another insectoid alien (who were these guys, anyways?) and a C-Sec officer by the name of Eddie Lang. He recognized me from the myriad vids about the Hero of the Blitz, much to my embarrassment. Kaidan and Ashley didn't help matters by joking that I had a fan. After some chit-chat about why he joined C-Sec, life on the Citadel, and his life story in general, I made my excuses and we headed down the corridor to the elevator. At last, we were going to C-Sec.

Or so I thought. The elevator ride took _forever_. Seriously, it took several minutes for the elevator car to crawl down to C-Sec. The audio systems didn't help. When it wasn't playing synthesized music (catchy at first, but it rapidly became annoying), there were overly cheerful snippets from a man who obviously fancied himself a reporter. Apparently, word of the attack on Eden Prime had leaked out. While colonial authorities were assuring anyone who'd listen that everything was fine, investors were sufficiently spooked to halt any further funding for the immediate future.

Eventually, we arrived at C-Sec. Technically, it was the C-Sec Academy, but people usually just stuck with C-Sec. Blue was a predominant theme here. The walls were blue. The uniforms and armour of the C-Sec officers were blue. Even the glass panels of the elevator shafts had a blue tint. I looked behind us at the elevator that had so slowly delivered us here, looked across to the elevator on the opposite side of the courtyard, and shuddered. That second elevator was the only way to access the docks and the Normandy. While it might help Customs control the ongoing flow of visitors coming and going, and thus contain any potential criminals or terrorists, it must be hell on everyone else. Funny how I never noticed how bad the elevators were when we first arrived. **(3)**

In an effort to distract myself from the elevators, I looked around the courtyard. Dimly lit, lots of blue, and several staircases. I later learned that one led to the Requisitions Office, where people with sufficient clearance (or lack of criminal records) could buy weapons and equipment, some led to another elevator, which connected to the Presidium, and one led up to the offices, common rooms, and Citadel Control, which monitored and guided the traffic entering, leaving and surrounding the Citadel.

It was just outside the last staircase where I saw Wrex. It was hard to miss him. He was the only krogan there, and he was surrounded by three C-Sec officers; two turian, one human. All of them were apparently trying to look intimidating, with limited success. As we got closer, I could see why: none of them had any firearms that I could see, while Wrex still had a full complement of weaponry holstered on his hardsuit. It didn't help that he towered over all of them, and had more muscle than the three of them combined.

"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fists' bar," I overheard the human C-Sec officer say, with more bravado than I thought was wise. "Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you," Wrex replied. His voice was very deep, yet surprisingly quiet.

"This is your last warning, Wrex," the human C-Sec officer continued, leaning towards him.

Wrex mimicked his movements. "You should warn Fist. I will kill him."

"You _want _me to arrest you?" he asked incredulously.

This elicited a chuckle from Wrex. "I want you to try." Wrex paused, waiting for someone to do something. The human C-Sec officer had apparently run out of things to say, though, and his colleagues didn't seem interested in jumping in. Looking bored, Wrex glanced around. He noticed our interest in him, and started moving towards us.

"Go on," the human C-Sec officer said. Yep, that was definitely bravado in his voice. "Get out of here."

Ignoring him, Wrex walked towards me. "Yes, human?" he asked in his deep voice.

"I'm trying to bring down a Spectre named Saren," I began, trying to keep my knees from knocking. I was painfully aware that if Wrex wanted to, he could probably pound me to a pulp, with or without my armour and shields. "Barla Von said to talk to you," I added, hoping his name might help.

To my hidden relief, it did. "Barla Von is a wise man," Wrex said. "We may share a common goal, human."

"Enlighten me," I said, remembering that I wasn't supposed to show any fear. It doesn't do any good to show people you're intimidated by them, even if there is damn good reason to. They tend to walk all over you if you do. Or they get excited or do something stupid.

"I've been hired to kill the owner of Chora's Den. A man named Fist. He did something very foolish."

"Let me guess," I said, jumping out on a limb. "He betrayed the Shadow Broker."

Wrex nodded. "A quarian showed up here on the Citadel. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide, so she went to Fist. He promised to arrange a meeting between her and the Shadow Broker. Instead, he contacted Saren."

"What does Saren have to do with this," I asked.

I couldn't believe what I heard next. "Well, the quarian has something that connects Saren to the geth. Apparently, they joined up with Saren, and he doesn't want that to be public knowledge. He paid Fist a small fortune for her."

Kaidan couldn't contain his excitement. "If we get our hands on that evidence, we can prove that Saren's a traitor. The Council will have to listen to us."

"Assuming the evidence is conclusive enough," I corrected, not wanting to get our hopes up too much. "Besides, Saren might already have her."

"Last I heard, Fist still had her," Wrex said. "Probably somewhere inside his club. You help me kill Fist, she's all yours."

Worked for me. I'd much rather have Wrex with me than against me. If nothing else, he'd be the perfect candidate to hide behind.

"Time we paid Fist a visit," I replied, shaking hands with him. My hand was swallowed up by his, and I was mildly relieved when he let go.

"What about Garrus?" Ashley asked. "That turian? He wants to take Saren down too."

"He might come in handy," I agreed. I remembered how shorthanded we were on Eden Prime, and wasn't eager for a repeat. Even though Wrex could probably fill in for five or six squad members at least, I wouldn't mind the extra help.

"He was here just before you showed up," Wrex said helpfully. "Said he was going to follow up a lead on his investigation, whatever that is. Wanted to speak to the doctor at the med-clinic."

"Garrus was assigned to investigate Saren, based on our charges that he was working with the geth," I explained. "Maybe he found something new."

That was apparently enough for Wrex, as he didn't ask for more detail. The four of us left for the med clinic, this time by the rapid-transit system. No way was I taking the stairs or elevators again. A few minutes later, we were back on the Upper Wards, right outside the med clinic.

* * *

The med clinic was pretty small, consisting of a single large room. A thin half-wall divided it in two sections. Presumably, the front half served as a waiting area, while the back half was where all the medical stuff happened. I quickly gathered that any private examinations would require the entire med clinic to be cleared. It was pretty easy to see and hear the four thugs threatening a redheaded woman in a doctor's clothes, as well as Garrus crouched below the half-wall, sneaking around the corner.

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" the woman, who I guessed was Dr. Michel, cried out in a frightened voice.

"That was smart, Doc," one of the goons replied. "Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut, or-" He stopped, finally noticing us. Quickly, he grabbed Dr. Michel and yanked her between us. Using her as a human shield, he pointed his pistol at us. "Who are you?" he yelled.

"Let her go," I told him firmly, raising my pistol in response. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaidan do the same, while Ashley and Wrex chose to grab their assault rifles.

Garrus took advantage of this standoff to pivot around the corner of the divide and fire his own pistol at the goon holding Dr. Michel hostage. He collapsed without another word, dragging down the doctor with him. She cried out loud.

I didn't have a chance to see whether she had been hit as well, or was just scared, as the remaining thugs decided to open fire. Big mistake. Five of us versus three of them, and they were surrounded on two sides. Do the math.

"Perfect timing, Shepard," Garrus congratulated me, once we'd confirmed the thugs were down. "Gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

"What were you thinking," I replied angrily. "You could have hit the hostage." I didn't say that just to be an ass. Years of training and service, honed by my experiences as a sniper, gave me enough knowledge of trajectories to recognize that Garrus's "clear shot" was a bit too close for comfort. A centimetre or two to the right, and the doctor would be the one hitting the ground permanently, sending us right back to square one.

Garrus was flustered. Clearly, he wasn't expecting my response. "Th- there wasn't time to think," he stuttered. "I just reacted. I didn't mean-" He stopped and turned to the doctor, who had climbed back to her feet by now. "Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay," she reassured him. "Thanks to you." She turned to the rest of us. "All of you."

I gave her Hero Smile #2 (I'm Here to Protect You). "I know those men threatened you. But if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you."

"They work for Fist," she replied, grateful enough to give me the benefit of the doubt. "They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

"The one I told you about, Shepard," Wrex added.

Dr. Michel turned to Garrus, who was looking slightly confused. **(4)** "A few days ago, a quarian came by my office," she explained. "She was hurt, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker, wanting to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Where is she now?" Garrus asked, fully into investigative mode.

"I put her in touch with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore," Garrus corrected her. "Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

Dr. Michel looked at Garrus in disbelief. "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" She glanced at the rest of us, and I glimpsed Wrex nodding in confirmation. "That's stupid, even for him," she continued, shaking her head. "This Saren must have made him quite the offer."

"That quarian must have something Saren wants," Garrus said thoughtfully. "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

"She did," Wrex spoke up. "The information she was going to trade. Apparently, it had something to do with the geth." Garrus and Dr. Michel looked at him in surprise. "That's right," Dr. Michel said slowly, clearly not expecting Wrex to finish her story.

Garrus recovered quickly. "She must be able to link Saren to the geth," he said intensely. "There's no way the Council can ignore this!"

I looked at my companions. "Time to move out," I said.

Garrus stepped towards me. "This is your show, Shepard," he acknowledged. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!"

"Why?" I asked.

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation," Garrus replied, his frustration very clear in his voice. "But I know what was really going on. Saren's a traitor to the Council, and a _disgrace _to my people!"

Well, I clearly couldn't question his determination or eagerness. "Welcome aboard, Garrus," I responded. Hopefully, I'd be able to keep him from meeting the same fate as Jenkins.

After checking once more to see that Dr. Michel was all right, we left. I was about to head for the rapid-transit terminal, when Garrus gestured for me to stop. "The next rush hour just started," he explained. "It'll be faster going on foot."

Well, if anyone would know when rush hour occurred on the Citadel, it'd be the C-Sec officer who walked the beat here. Bowing to his knowledge, I led the five of us towards the stair-laden passageway that Kaidan, Ashley and I had used earlier. Just as we reached the door, I heard someone call my name. "Commander Shepard? Excuse me, Commander Shepard?"

I turned around. Behind me stood a human woman in a very skimpy dress. At first glance, it looked like someone started with a long dress from the waist down, ran out of fabric, and settled for a patch of criss-crossing straps, with enough cloth left over to cover a certain portion of her anatomy. **(5) **

"I'm Emily Wong. I'm an investigative journalist working here on the Citadel." That last part threw me for a moment, before I realized that she was probably trying to pass for one of the locals down here in order to increase her chances of landing a story. "Could I have a moment of your time?"

"What do you need," I asked politely. Never hurt to be nice. Not to mention that she was a bit easy on the eyes.

"I've been hunting for evidence of corruption and organized crime on the Citadel, but there are places I can't go. I was hoping you might share anything you find during your own investigation. I can make it worth your time."

"How do you know I'm investigating anything?" I asked curiously.

"I'm a good journalist, Commander," she answered. "Word gets around."

"How do you know that my investigation is going to uncover anything you need?"

"You wouldn't be investigating if it weren't big. And if it's big, it's something I'd like to hear about."

"You've got to have access to better sources. Why contact me?"

At this point, I guess she got tired of beating around the bush, and decided if she was straight with me, I might deign to throw her a bone.

She scratched her head nervously. "I'm using every source I can find, but I think I've got a better shot with you. I've read your file. If anyone is going to uncover corruption here, it's the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz."

Figures. Everyone wants a piece of me or thinks I can solve all their problems just because "Hero" is my unofficial middle name. "No promises, but if I find anything relating to your case, I'll inform you." I said. Safe enough response. Committal, yet non-committal.

"Thank you, Commander," she said. "You won't regret it."

We didn't have any further interruptions on our way to Chora's Den. Curiously, when we reached that final chamber housing the entrance to that club, it seemed... quieter. Quieter than the last time, at least. My paranoid streak started to whisper nervously in the back of my head.

Garrus confirmed my suspicions. "Looks like it's shut down."

"Fist knows we're coming," Wrex agreed.

Well, if three of us were on the same wavelength, clearly something was up. I motioned everyone to stop. "Okay, listen up," I told them. "If we're going to do this as a team, we need to work as a team. First things first: link your armour into our network." I waited for Wrex and Garrus to do so, then accessed their inventory screens. As I'd suspected, their weapons were low-grade at best.

I grabbed a Mark VII Thunder rifle, giving thanks for whoever decided to make modern weaponry retractable. Otherwise, I'd never be able to carry away half the loot I found. Given how the Thunder series was manufactured by Haliat Armory, a turian company, I thought it fitting to hand it over to Garrus. "Commander," he said curiously, while taking the rifle.

"I've got a lot of spare gear," I explained. "No sense hoarding it all when you guys could use some of it."

Garrus and Wrex seemed to accept that, though the latter was more willing to get some "real weapons," grumbling about how C-Sec swiped all his good stuff when they hauled him in. Ashley and Kaidan stayed silent, mainly because they were used to being recipients of that particular idiosyncrasy by now.

Once I'd outfitted everyone as best as I could, and given them an ammo block or two to take down Fist's goons, the next step was tactics. "Garrus, is there any other way into Chora's Den?" Upon seeing him shake his head, I sighed. "Right, and Fist knows that. If we all go charging in at once, we'll probably get stuck in a bottleneck and mowed down by Fist's guards."

"What's the plan, Commander," Kaidan asked.

"Kaidan, you and Ashley circle round to the left hand side of the door," I ordered. "The rest of us go in, find cover and start moving clockwise. Kaidan, Ashley, provide covering fire until we're out of the way, then move in and start moving counter-clockwise. Don't let your trigger finger get too itchy: I don't want you shooting at us while we're trying to get in. Keep an eye on your HUD as well: if we have to retreat, I'd rather not walk back into some friendly fire."

Kaidan and Ashley nodded and moved towards their assigned position, suppressing their surprise that I'd want to join a brand-new fire team whom I'd never fought with before. While they did have a point, I had some reasons for making my choice: one, by deliberately assigning Garrus and Wrex to my fire team, I hoped I could keep them in line; two, if things went south, I knew that Kaidan and Ashley could work together to bail us out; and three, I really wanted to make the most of Wrex's sheer bulk as an extra screen.

Once Kaidan and Ashley were in position, the rest of us moved forward. As we did so, an inspiration struck me. I holstered my pistol and pulled out my sniper rifle. Neither of my companions said anything, though I heard Wrex chuckle. The door hissed open, triggered by its motion sensors. The armed guard had just enough time to see me and figure that his shotgun probably wasn't much of a match before my sniper rifle drilled a neat hole between his eyes.

Taking advantage of the shock from seeing the bartender drop so quickly, Garrus and Wrex charged in, assault rifles blazing. I was close on their heels. As I switched back to my pistol, I noted how Garrus paused briefly to spray some covering fire to our right before catching up to Wrex, distracting the two guards perched behind a table. Good tactics, there. Garrus, Wrex and I took cover behind a table of our own to shoot at another pair of guards hiding at our left, leaving the first pair to Kaidan and Ashley.

Wrex proved to be everything I hoped for, and then some. "Our" guards were so busy concentrating on him, that they didn't even notice the tech mines Garrus and I threw out to disable their shields and sabotage their weapons. Heck, they probably thought the "overheat" error their weapons gave out came from frantically trying, and failing, to take out Wrex. To their credit, they only needed a few seconds to switch to another weapon. Unfortunately for them, they didn't have that much time.

At that point, I figured I had time to check my HUD and see how Kaidan and Ashley were doing. Turns out I was mistaken, as my shields registered a solid hit. If it wasn't for the fact that they were still online, that bullet would have smacked right into my helmet. Might not have penetrated, but I prefer my helmet intact, thank you very much. I turned around and saw another guard, perched _on top _of the bar. Before I could do anything, I glimpsed a flare of blue-purple energy behind me, a visual manifestation typical of biotics, and saw the erstwhile guard violently propelled off the bar. I heard, more than saw, his rather sudden landing.

Now that my hide was safe for the next minute or so, I turned back to see who had performed that impressive display of biotics. To my surprise, Wrex was standing there, wreathed in a halo of biotic energy. Of all the luck, I'd managed to ally myself with a krogan battlemaster! Maybe the universe was finally giving me a break.

Wrex returned my gaze briefly, and then gestured with my head at someone behind me. I turned around, to see another krogan moving towards us. I vaguely recalled him serving as some sort of bouncer when I first entered Chora's Den.

"My people like to charge their enemies once they get close enough," Wrex advised. "You don't want that to happen. No one's developed a set of personal armour or shields that's strong enough to withstand that sort of attack."

"Gotcha," I replied tersely. "I don't suppose you could pull that biotic throw again?"

Wrex shook his head. "Not for another minute. I could do this, though." He gestured at the approaching krogan with his hand, which flared with biotic energy. A ripple seemed to form around the krogan, warping the very air around him. I realized that Wrex had manipulated the gravitational forces around that krogan to rapidly fluctuate, effectively shearing him bit by bit.

"That works too," I said casually, lifting my pistol. A couple shots later, and the krogan fell down with a very audible crash.

My HUD indicated that Kaidan and Ashley had cleared the rest of the room. There were two more life signs detectable, hiding in an alcove that branched off from the bar. I signalled for everyone to meet up outside that corridor. When we got there, I motioned for Kaidan and Ashley to hit the guard diagonally opposite from them (and closest to Garrus, Wrex and I), while we would do the same for the remaining guard. Suffice it to say, five people suddenly popping out to catch you in a crossfire isn't conducive to any kind of long-term survival.

After quickly grabbing the weapons off of our deceased adversaries (at least, those within easy reach. I wasn't going to search the entire bar!), I consulted my HUD and my map. At the end of the alcove stood a door. Behind the door, a corridor led down to Fist's private office. Unfortunately, we'd have to deal with two more guards first. After taking a moment to let the others catch their breath, and let me catch mine, I hit the door control. We entered the room to confront...

Well, they didn't really look like guards. They had no armour. They weren't packing anything better than a pistol (not that that's saying much, I'd proven that a pistol can be more effective than a shotgun or assault rifle in the right hands, but still). And they were nervous as hell, barely able to lift their pistols without shaking.

"Stay right there! Don't come any closer!" one of them cried.

"Warehouse workers," Garrus recognized, probably from their uniform or something. "All the real guards must be dead."

"Stay back or we'll shoot," the other one warned.

I just stood and gave them Hero Smile #3 (Give Up Now, and No One Gets Hurt). "You know, this would be a good time to find somewhere else to work."

The first worker to speak took the hint. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Yeah," his friend quickly agreed. "I never really liked Fist anyway."

We stood aside, and allowed the duo to escape. Garrus watched them depart, then turned to me. "I never would've thought of that," he admitted.

"Shooting people isn't always the answer," Kaidan reproved.

Garrus looked chastened. Before I could say anything to make him feel better, Wrex, of all people, intervened. "It would've been quicker to just kill them."

The corridor ended at a row of lockers, with another set of doors to the right. Naturally, I stopped to hack the lockers, and was pleased to find a Mark VIII Karpov pistol from Rosenkov Materials, which I happily took. Wrex reached over and grabbed the other weapon, a Mark VII Armageddon shotgun from Kassa Fabrication, before I could do anything. Ashley, the only other one cleared to use a shotgun, frowned as Wrex transferred the upgrades and ammo from the shotgun I'd give him earlier, a Mark VI Sokolov. Her frown disappeared, though, when Wrex turned and gave her the Sokolov. "Careful," he advised. "The Sokolovs do more damage, but they also overheat faster." Ashley nodded her thanks. **(6)**

I wordlessly took her old shotgun, a Mark V Firestorm from Devlon Industries, and waited while she swapped in some upgrades and ammo. Once she was done, we opened the door, only to find another door. What was this, an airlock? And what was with this place and its obsession with doors? Leaving that thought aside for a moment, we entered Fist's private office.

Fist was sitting by his computer. He jerked up when we entered, hit a button on his console and dove behind a couch. "Why do I have to do everything myself?" he cursed. "Time to die, little soldiers."

To my horror, two small defence turrets pop out of the ground. Aw, crap.

The five of us opened fire, hoping to at least damage the turrets before they come online. Strangely enough, we drained the shields of one of the turrets before they open fire. Ducking down behind another couch, I heard the fire pattern of the turrets... which sounded oddly like an assault rifle. Taking a chance, I poked my head outside to get a good look. I only got a couple seconds before the turret re-oriented itself and fired at me, but that was enough.

"Good news," I grinned at my companions. "Those so-called 'turrets' are just a set of assault rifles on a platform." A feral grin spread over their faces. "Oh, this is gonna be fun," Wrex growled.

On cue, we popped up and opened fire at the turrets, occasionally ducking down when our shields were getting low and needed to regenerate. Eventually, both turrets exploded, knocking Fist to the ground. By the time he rolled over and sat back, we had already surrounded him.

"Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!" he shouted. I pointed my pistol at him. He cringed.

"Where's the quarian?" I asked.

"She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth."

"He's no use to you now," Wrex said in his deep voice. "Let me kill him." I'd almost forgotten that he was on a contract. Nice of him to wait until I had a chance to interrogate him, though.

"Wait! Wait!" Fist said frantically, apparently buying the good-cop, bad-cop routine that Wrex and I had inadvertently started. "I don't know where the quarian is, but I know where you can find her. The quarian isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

"Face to face? Impossible," Wrex scoffed. "Even I was hired through an agent."

Fist stood up shakily. "Nobody meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. Even _I _don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set up a meeting. When she shows up, though, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

I moved towards him, until my pistol was just a centimetre away from his left eyeball. "Give me the location," I demanded. "Now."

"Here on the Wards," came the immediate reply. "The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

My mind flashed back to that dimly lit, stair-infested corridor between Chora's Den and the Upper Wards. At least all that exercise would be good for something. Suddenly, my paranoid streak shrieked. I jerked aside, just in time to see Wrex lift his new shotgun and shoot Fist at point-blank range.

"What are you doing?" Kaidan and Garrus exclaimed in unison, belatedly lifting their weapons to point them at Wrex, then reconsidering the wisdom of that course of action.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him," Wrex replied simply. "I don't leave jobs half done."

I glanced down at Fist's body, lamenting the lost opportunity to score free drinks from this establishment, then turned to look Wrex in the eye. This had to be the last time he went off like that. "I'm in charge here," I told him bluntly. "And we don't shoot unarmed prisoners."

To his credit, Wrex didn't back down. "How many people died because of him? He brought this on himself. Besides, don't we have somewhere else to be?"

The contents of our conversation came flooding back. It was Garrus who spoke first: "That quarian's dead if we don't go now."

* * *

_(1): Shepard may not be entirely accurate here. As time passed, he accumulated a sizeable fortune, either from "borrowing" credits from fallen adversaries or selling the weapons and equipment he "liberated." After rising to a staggering sum, his official bank records stayed relatively constant, despite his occasional purchase of advanced weapons, tools, armour and upgrades for his squad and his persistent scrounging of weapons and armour, which he inevitably sold. One possible explanation is that there may be some unaccounted caches of credits that Barla Von or some other party may have set up for him. _

_(2): An allusion to a twentieth-century human novel called "The Wizard of Oz."_

_(3): Shepard is not alone in his opinion of the elevator system on the Citadel. Virtually everybody complained about the slow speed of the elevator cars. The Council formed a committee to study the matter and devise ways of improving the elevator system. Their findings are still pending, even today. _

_(4): By this, one can presume that Shepard was starting to recognize turian facial cues._

_(5): Shepard's attention to detail suggests he did more than just glance. _

_(6): There are a wide variety of manufacturers who produce weapons, armour and tools. Shepard's awareness of these companies and their products was probably enhanced by all his scrounging. _


	9. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Naturally, we didn't leave right away. I spied a safe in the corner, and moved to check it out, absentmindedly picking up an OSD that Fist had dropped on the way. To my relief, the safe was one of Foster & Forsythe 5000s. I could crack one of those puppies in my sleep. I quickly added its contents to my collection—a set of Mark VII Predator M armour from Armax Arsenal and a Mark VII Hammer sniper rifle from Elanus Risk Control Services.

"If you're done, Commander," Kaidan said mildly. I nodded to him. "Time to go."

We went back the way we came, entered the club again... and ducked as our shields flared, indicating they'd blocked some shots. Apparently, reinforcements had arrived.

However, there were a lot of things going for us. For starters, there was plenty of cover for us to hide behind and shoot back. Plus, thanks to all my scrounging, each of my companions had weapons that were on par, if not better, than anything the guards could muster. In addition, they were all spread out, giving us the luxury of concentrating our fire on one target at a time. A little tense, but nothing a halfway competent soldier couldn't handle.

Quickly, we exited the club. I led the squad at a brisk jog. No sense rushing to save the quarian, only to fail at the end because we were too busy catching our breath. Besides, it's weird enough that I'm running _towards _danger.

We arrived just in time to see the quarian talking to a turian. Behind her, two salarians were crouching behind a crate; too busy focusing on their colleague to notice us.

"Did you bring it?" the turian asked.

"Where's the Shadow Broker?" the quarian responded. "Where's Fist?"

"They'll be here," the turian replied, running a hand down her helmet. "Where's the evidence?"

"No way," the quarian said flatly, slapping his hand away. "The deal's off." Note to Saren: tell your goons to refrain from being so damn friendly.

The turian gestured at the salarians, who crept away from their hiding spot and pulled their pistols. Before I could do anything, the quarian noticed her erstwhile ambushers, threw a tech mine at them and jumped out of the way. Caught off guard, the salarians were unable to get clear in time. The tech mine exploded at their feet, sending them hurtling into the stairs.

The turian raced forward, trying to reach the quarian. Meanwhile the salarians were starting to get up. No time for fancy moves. "Biotics. Now," I barked.

Kaidan and Wrex responded. I'm not sure which one of them threw the turian into the wall with enough force to dent it and which one lifted the salarians to float helplessly in the air, but it quickly turned the corridor into a one-sided shooting gallery. I glanced at my chronometer once their life signs dropped from my HUD, indicating they had expired. Only four minutes had passed from the moment we'd left Fist's office to the end of the firefight. Seemed like four hours.

"Fist set me up," the quarian cried angrily, drawing my attention. "I _knew_ I couldn't trust him!"

"Were you hurt in the fight?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I know how to look after myself," she said, more calmly. "Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?"

"My name's Shepard," I introduced myself. "I'm looking for evidence to prove a turian Spectre named Saren is a traitor."

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life," came the response. The quarian looked over her shoulder. "But not here," she added, turning back. "We need to go somewhere safe."

"We could take her to the human embassy," Garrus suggested, tilting his head my way. "Your ambassador will want to see this anyway."

Sounded like a good place to me. The Presidium had to be safer than the Wards, and the embassies would add diplomatic protection. Motioning for the quarian to follow us, we left.

* * *

Udina and Anderson were talking when we arrived at the embassy. Anderson must have alerted Udina that we had arrived, because he started grumbling while his back was still facing us.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard," he began, shaking his head. "Firefights in the Wards. An all-out assault on Chora's Den. Do you know how many-" He finally turned and stopped talking as he noticed the recent additions to my squad. "Who's this? A quarian?" he said, focusing on our latest acquaintance. "What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Making your day, Ambassador," I said cheerfully. "She has information linking Saren to the geth."

This shut the ambassador up for a moment. "Really?" I almost thought I saw his lip twitch upward. "Maybe you'd better start at the beginning, Miss..."

"My name is Tali," the quarian introduced herself. "Tali'Zora nar Rayya."

"We don't see many quarians here," Udina began politely, sounding like a politician instead of a candidate for anger management therapy for once. "Why did you leave the Flotilla?"

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood." Tali responded.

"I've never heard of this before," I said. Now that we were out of any firefights, I was free to indulge my curiosity.

"It is a tradition among my people," she explained. "When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the Flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."

"What kind of things do you look for," I asked.

"Resources, technology, even knowledge that could make life easier on the Flotilla," she answered. "Through our Pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than being a burden on our limited resources."

"Tell us what you found," I prompted.

"During my travels, I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious. I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and retrieved its memory core."

Anderson spoke up. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defence mechanism."

"Tali?" I inquired.

"If you're quick, careful and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved," she answered. "Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio banks." She manipulated her omni-tool, pulling up a file.

"Eden Prime was a major victory!" Saren's voice boomed from the omni-tool. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Saren's voice," Anderson said excitedly. "This proves he was involved in the attack!"

"Eden Prime and the beacon brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit," I repeated. "Any idea what he's talking about?"

"Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology... like a weapon," Anderson speculated.

"Wait... there's more," Tali interrupted. "Saren wasn't working alone." She activated her omni-tool again.

Saren's voice boomed out again. "Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." This time, a female responded, adding: "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

Udina frowned, concentrating, then shook his head. "I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about Reapers."

"Who are these Reapers," I asked. "Anyone have a clue?"

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50 000 years ago," Tali answered, pulling up some data from her omni-tool. "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished." She looked up to see the rest of us looking at her. "At least, that's what the geth believe," she finished lamely.

"Sounds a little far-fetched." Udina snorted.

"Maybe not," I said thoughtfully. As everyone turned to look at me, I continued. "The vision on Eden Prime—I think I understand it now. I didn't see some organic race being attacked by the geth. I saw the _Protheans_ being wiped out by the _Reapers_."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life," Tali added. "And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back."

Udina groaned. "The Council's just going to love this."

"If this is true, then the Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space," I pointed out. "We have to tell them."

Thankfully, Anderson brought us back on track. "No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor."

Not if those two sentences were all they held. "Tell me you've got more than that," I asked Tali.

"Saren gave a detailed briefing that covered the attack on your colony in excruciating detail," Tali reassured me. "Date, time, insertion points, priorities, everything."

That convinced Udina. "You're right," he said. "We need to present this to the Council right away."

"What about her?" Ashley asked. "The quarian?"

"My name is Tali," Tali responded pointedly. She looked at me... or, at least, I think she did. Hard to tell with the helmet she had on. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you," she pleaded.

"What about your Pilgrimage," I asked.

"The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?" Tali asked, spreading her hands. "Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait."

I quickly made a decision. She could provide another body for me to hide behind, she knew how to hold her own in a fight, and she knew a lot about tech. Heck, she could probably teach _me _a thing or two. "I'll take all the help I can get," I told her.

Tali walked over to join us. "Thanks. You won't regret this."

"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council," Udina said. "Take a few minutes to collect yourselves, then meet us in the Tower."

At least he said it nicely this time.

* * *

I spent those few minutes interfacing Tali into my network and upgrading her arsenal. I didn't know how much longer she'd be spending with us, but she might as well benefit from all the weapons I'd collected. Whether hunting Saren or travelling on her Pilgrimage, having some better weapons wouldn't hurt. Mind you, that was all I could give her. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for "spare" omni-tools or other tech.

Oh, yeah: while everyone was admiring Tali's new gear, I may have accidentally sent a subroutine or two in the general direction of Udina's computer.

Once we were done, we left the embassy. I wasn't in much of a rush, so I decided to play tourist for a bit. Tali couldn't stop looking around. "So much empty space," she marvelled. "A thousand of my people could live here and hardly ever see each other." Made sense. If what I'd heard was true, she'd spent all her life cooped up with her shipmates. Privacy was probably a luxury, if not a myth.

Garrus nodded at her. "The ambassadors have this beautiful park to relax in, but most of them are too busy to ever use it," he said. "I'd imagine you could easily fit some more residents in, and they'd never notice."

Wrex chuckled, noting the stunned looks of the people we passed. "I get the feeling they're not used to seeing krogan walking around up here."

"Or maybe they're comparing you to that statue," I replied, my attention caught by a large krogan-shaped rock up ahead. We jogged ahead for a few minutes, crossed a bridge to the financial district on the other side of the Presidium. A couple hundred metres more, and we reached a small set of stairs, leading down to a platform that projected a glowing, transparent asari with circuitry floating inside it. Behind the projection lay a large rock statue, carved to look like a krogan.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wrex straighten his shoulders. His eyes, though, seemed... introspective. Sad, even. "This statue represents what the krogan used to be: a proud and fierce nation. Now we're just brutes for hire to the highest bidder. We've forgotten our roots."

Ashley was the first to open her mouth. "You're not really like most other krogan, are you, Wrex?"

Wrex looked both surprised and amused. "I'll take that as a compliment."

The six of us moved closer to the projection. Once we got close enough, it started talking.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Presidium. My name is Avina, and I am pleased to be your virtual guide throughout this level of the Citadel space station."

"Virtual guide?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

"I am a fully interactive virtual intelligence, programmed to provide spontaneous guidance at predetermined locations of interest throughout this level of the Citadel. I may also be contacted through any of the Presidium VI terminals, should you require assistance."

I looked at my companions, shrugged, and turned back. "Give me the tour," I told the VI.

"Welcome to Presidium Tourism Terminal III. Here in the financial district, a number of businesses offer various goods and services to their exclusive clientele. The statue you see before you was commissioned to honour the krogan soldiers who gave their lives to protect Citadel Space during the Rachni Wars. In the aftermath of the Krogan Rebellions, several embassies petitioned to have the statue removed. However, this motion was eventually quashed by the Council."

Rachni Wars? Krogan Rebellions? Some of this sounded familiar. To be honest, though, intergalactic history was never my strong point. Too many dates and awkward-to-pronounce names, I guess. "What were the Rachni Wars?" I asked.

"Nearly 2200 years ago, explorers seeking to expand Citadel space opened up mass relays leading to systems controlled by the rachni. A highly intelligent and aggressive insect race, the rachni unleashed a war of conquest against the rest of the galaxy that lasted for nearly three centuries.

"The emergence of the krogan finally turned the tide in favour of the Citadel species. Krogan forces provided the numbers necessary to halt the rachni advance and drive them back. The krogan then pursued their retreating fleets. Able to survive the harsh environments of the rachni homeworlds, the krogan hunted their enemy to extinction.

"After the conclusion of the Rachni Wars, the Council passed laws forbidding the activation of primary mass relays without knowing the location of its partner, in order to prevent such an incident from occurring again."

"Was it really necessary to wipe them out?" I inquired.

"I am sorry," the VI responded politely, "but a value judgment of that nature is beyond my programming." Typical error message.

"Fine," I said. "You were saying something about the Krogan Rebellions?"

"In recognition of their efforts during the Rachni Wars, the krogan were granted several new colony worlds by the Council. Over the next four hundred years, the krogan species began to expand. Blessed with an extremely high birth rate, their numbers began to swell.

"Faced with a critical overpopulation crisis, the krogan started a violent colonization of nearby worlds inhabited by other Council species. The Krogan Rebellions had begun.

"For a full century, the Council and its member species fought to bring the krogan under control. With the aid of the newly discovered turian empire, they were ultimately successful." **(1)**

"You needed the krogan to stop the rachni. Then you needed the turians to stop the krogan. So who's going to stop the turians?" I asked. "No offense," I added, turning to look at Wrex and Garrus.

"None taken," Garrus responded. Wrex said nothing, but I sensed he found my query amusing.

"I am sorry, but that question is beyond my programming parameters," came the pre-programmed response. "The turians are members of the Citadel Council. They are not a threat to galactic peace." Of course not. And I had a tropical resort in the Terminus Systems to sell.

"Look, here's something that might be within your 'programming parameters.'" I said. "If everything you said is true, and the Council went to war with the krogan, why did they fight so hard to keep the statue?"

"The krogan were instrumental in saving the galaxy from the rachni threat," the VI replied. "The Council believed this historical fact should not be forgotten."

Ain't that nice of them?

"The Council also hoped that preserving the memorial would improve diplomatic relations with the krogan and bring about a peaceful resolution to the Rebellions. Unfortunately, the krogan refused to negotiate, and only surrendered after their population and homeworlds had been ravaged by the turians."

"That's all for now," I told the VI.

"Thank you for using Avina. Have a pleasant day," it said.

I led my companions away, but stopped when I realized we were one short. Turning back, I saw Tali staring at the Krogan Memorial.

"The krogan rebelled against the Council, yet they have a statue on the Citadel," she said slowly. "And we quarians still live as outcasts."

I wasn't sure what to say. If I were in her shoes, I'd probably be a bit sore myself. Wrex, on the other hand, didn't have my difficulty. "At least you still live," he said sadly. "In another two hundred years, this statue might be the only evidence my people ever existed." He left things at that enigmatic note, refusing to say another word. After a few failed attempts, I shrugged and moved on.

After a few minutes, we reached the elevator leading to the Citadel Tower. In front of it stood another Avina. Behind it stood what looked like a really, really small mass relay, with its arms pointing skyward. Beside it, one of those insectoid things was occupied with a control panel.

It was that insectoid thing that caught my attention. Those buggers had been popping up all over the Citadel, but it was only now that I had a chance to take a closer look.

Apparently, I wasn't the first one to give in to curiosity, because the Avina VI automatically said "Please do not disturb the keepers" when I was a metre away from the insectoid.

"Keepers?" I asked.

"Welcome to Presidium Tourism Terminal II," Avina began automatically, prompting all of us to roll our eyeballs. Especially Garrus, who I gathered had heard all of this before. "You are standing near the base of the Citadel Tower, one of the Presidium's most recognizable and important structures." Yes, yes. Three guesses whether the Council approved this recording, and the first two guesses don't count.

"Behind me is the spectacular Relay Monument, a scale model representation of a Prothean mass relay," the VI continued. "To your left is one of the keepers, the enigmatic caretakers of the Citadel, working on a control panel. You may see keepers involved in various tasks throughout all levels of the Citadel. We ask that you do not interfere with them in any way. The keepers are essential to the smooth operation of the Citadel. Obstructing their daily work will result in harsh penalties, including incarceration and rehabilitation."

"I'd like to know more about the keepers," I said.

"Little is known about these peaceful servants of the Citadel, though they are essential to the operation and maintenance of the entire station. Citadel regulations protect the keepers against interference during the performance of their tasks-"

"Yes, yes," I interrupted. "'Obstructing their daily work will result in harsh penalties, including incarceration and rehabilitation.' Please continue."

"Keepers can be seen in all sections of the Citadel, but are typically found in or around the Tower," the VI complied.

"Any particular reason there are so many keepers around in this area?" I asked.

"The keepers do not communicate with other species," the VI replied. "It is assumed, however, that the Tower houses the Citadel's control systems. Many of the station's systems, such as navigation and life support, function automatically. It is believed the keepers operate these systems inside the Tower's inaccessible core."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on," I said. "You're telling me that there's a part of the Citadel that's inaccessible, even after all these centuries of being inhabited. And these 'keepers' have been running things all this time, without any supervision or understanding of what they're doing."

"That is correct," the VI said.

"And... no one's thought that was a little weird?" **(2)**

"I am sorry," the VI responded politely, "but that question is beyond my programming."

I groaned. "Stupid machine," I muttered.

"Please repeat your inquiry," the VI politely requested.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about the keepers?" I asked instead.

"The keepers also make frequent appearances in the Council Chambers itself, thought they appear to be just passing through on their way to some other destination."

"Fine," I said. "Tell me about this Relay Monument."

"Discovered by the asari who first arrived at the Citadel, the Relay Monument is one of the station's most interesting and controversial features.

"What is the meaning behind this striking piece of art? Is it a tribute to Prothean vanity, a reminder of their conquest of the galaxy through mass relay technology?

"Or perhaps it is a symbol of unity, a Prothean acknowledgement that the relays would eventually lead other species here to the Citadel?

"No one can say for sure, making the Relay Monument a favourite topic of discussion among academics and scholars."

"That's all for now," I said, starting to get tired of this interactive tour. Walking around it, I ignored the VI's automatic farewell and moved to get a closer look at the Relay Monument. Behind me, I heard Ashley whistle.

"The Protheans obviously understood the aesthetic value of the mass relays," Tali admired. "Something we quarians have learned to appreciate during our wanderings."

Kaidan was frowning. "Anyone else hear that low hum?" We shook our heads. "Sounds like it's coming from that statue. Makes my teeth tingle."

Garrus gave him a thoughtful look. "You know," he said, pointing at the keeper we'd just left, "the keepers never paid much attention to the Relay Monument. I always found that a little strange."

"Well, there aren't any control panels around here," I pointed out.

"True." Garrus conceded. "Still..." he paused to look at the Relay Monument, and then shrugged.

My helmet comm clicked. "Shepard?" It was Captain Anderson.

"Sir," I responded.

"The Council's agreed to hold a meeting to discuss your findings," he reported. "Right now. Get the rest of your squad to the Council Chambers as soon as possible."

"We're outside the elevator to the Tower," I answered, motioning my companions to follow me. "We'll be there in a couple minutes."

"Understood," Anderson replied. "Over and out."

I filled them in on what Anderson had said as we entered the elevator. Understandably, several of them were psyched.

"I'm going to enjoy the look on the Council's face when they see evidence they can't just ignore," Ashley crowed.

"There's no way the Council can ignore us this time," Garrus added excitedly. "Saren's days as a Spectre are done."

"If the evidence is worth trying to kill me, I hope it's sufficient to motivate the Council," Tali chimed in.

The others were a little more cautious. "I just hope it isn't too late," Kaidan said quietly. "All this time we spent hunting for evidence gave Saren a nice head start."

"Oh come on, LT," Ashley began, before Wrex interrupted. "He's right. Don't congratulate yourself just yet."

He didn't say another word during the ride, but his point carried across loud and clear.

* * *

Navigating all those stairs was just as fun as I'd remembered. No wonder everyone here was in such good shape. Even if you took rapid transit, you'd still have to climb a few stairs. The others kept pace with me, though, and we quickly linked up with Anderson.

"Come on," he urged, when we got closer. "Udina's presenting Tali's evidence to the Council."

As we got onto the ramp, we heard Saren and his female companion say their spiel. Apparently, we'd arrived just in time to hear the end of the recordings.

"You wanted proof," Udina said. "There it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador," the turian councillor said, a little dramatically, I thought. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren," the asari councillor said, glancing at the turian councillor. She looked worried, almost sad. "Matriarch Benezia."

Whoever she was, I'm guessing her reputation didn't exactly jive with the sort of person who'd associate with a traitor. "Who's she?" I asked.

"Matriarchs are powerful asari who are revered for their wisdom and experience," the asari councillor explained. "They serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren." Oh great.

"I'm more interested in the Reapers," the salarian councillor confessed. "What do you know about them?"

"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core," Anderson admitted. "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."

"The geth believe the Reapers are gods," I added. "And Saren is the prophet for their return."

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back," Anderson continued. "Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime."

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" the salarian councillor asked.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers," I answered. "That's bad enough."

The turian councillor snorted. "Listen to what you're saying! Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!"

Doubtful, given the track record I'd seen so far.

"I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to listen to the truth," I pointed out. "Don't make the same mistake again."

"This is different," the asari councillor spoke. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously a myth, Commander," the salarian councillor declared. Apparently, his interest in the Reapers was short-lived. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

"50 000 years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization," I said, reminding them of the audio files they'd just heard. "If Saren finds the Conduit, it _will _happen again."

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life," the turian councillor dismissed. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."

Well, verbally, yes. I didn't know whether their rulings could be put into effect that quickly. As I later found out, they could, if the Council really cared enough, of course.

"That is not good enough!" Udina snapped. Ah, cranky, bitchy, Udina. I'd wondered where he'd gone to. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"

"A fleet cannot track down one man," the salarian councillor pointed out mildly.

Udina gritted his teeth. "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies."

Fat chance, I thought. Surely the Council would have other priorities. The salarian councillor had a point, though. Coordinating a galaxy-wide search for one man using a fleet would be more trouble than it's worth. There was another option, and, with a sinking heart, I realized what that was.

While I was pondering all this, the turian councillor was responding to Udina's rather presumptuous request. "Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems. We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies." Thanks, I thought acidly.

With a sigh, I gave in to the inevitable. If nothing else, it would be consistent with my reputation, and impress The Powers That Be: "I can take Saren down," I volunteered.

The asari councillor caught on quickly. "The commander's right," she said, gesturing to me while turning to the turian councillor. "There is a way that doesn't require fleets or armies."

The turian councillor wasn't slow on the uptake either. "No!" he barked. "It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

"You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre," I reasoned. "Everybody's happy." Except me, that is, but since when did my opinion count for anything?

The asari councillor turned her head to her left, looking at the salarian councillor, who nodded. She turned right to face the turian councillor. He paused for an agonizing few seconds, before grudgingly nodding as well. TPTB pressed their palms to the computer panels in front of them and pressed a few buttons. The asari councillor then looked up at me.

"Commander Shepard," she declared, "step forward." I glanced at Anderson, who nodded reassuringly, then stepped up to join Udina at the edge of the ramp.

Around me, I heard an increased rustle, as spectators flocked to the sides, sensing something big was about to happen. Their whispers and speculations grew louder with every passing minute.

The asari councillor spoke again. "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

Next came the salarian councillor: "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol," the asari councillor continued. "The embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council; instruments of our will."

It was the turian councillor's turn. "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," the asari councillor concluded. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

Right. Because getting humans, especially yours truly, thrown into even more danger was_ such _a great accomplishment. Naturally, I just bowed and told her I was honoured.

"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren," the salarian councillor said. "He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"Any idea where to find him?" I asked. The Traverse _was _rather large, after all.

"We will forward any relevant information to Ambassador Udina," the turian councillor replied. I made a mental note to verify that I could access his computer, just to get the unedited version. Otherwise, I'd have to make another trip to his office. **(3) **

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," the asari councillor said, bringing things to a close.

Once TPTB had walked away, Anderson stepped forward. "Congratulations, Commander," he said warmly, shaking my hand.

Udina was already thinking of the next move. "We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You'll need a ship, a crew, supplies..."

"You'll get access to special equipment and training now," Anderson pointed out. "You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the C-Sec requisitions officer."

"Anderson, come with me," Udina barked. "I'll need your help to set all this up."

Udina marched off without sparing any of us a glance. At least Anderson had the courtesy to give me a nod before he hurried to catch up to the ambassador.

"I thought the ambassador would be a little more grateful," Tali said quietly. "He didn't even thank you."

I shrugged. At this point, I was getting the feeling that I'd never get any kind of gratitude from the ambassador, so there wasn't any point crying over it. "Until I find Saren, I haven't done anything," I pointed out. "Come on."

"Right behind you, Shepard," Garrus said.

"Where are we going," Ashley asked. My response was succinct, to say the least.

"Shopping."

* * *

Specifically, I wanted to get a feel on what the merchants had to offer and how much it would cost. While there were tons of merchants on both the Presidium and in the Wards, I narrowed the list down to a few vendors after an hour or so.

There was a hanar named Delanynder (though he usually went by "Delan," as his full name was apparently a bit tricky for other species to pronounce. Don't know why. It wasn't that much of a tongue-twister.) in the financial district. His goods were a bit pricey, but definitely high-quality. In particular, he had a few sets of Colossus armour that could fit a number of species. I knew that Kassa Fabrication was renowned for building armour that could take the most damage, and the specs proved it. They were also known for their exceedingly high prices, which I saw as well. I resolved to come back once I'd earned a bit more cash.

Garrus and Wrex recommended that I check out the markets in the Wards; the former because he knew one could find decent equipment for cheaper prices, the latter because he knew they were more likely to smuggle in quality merchandise on the sly. There was a volus merchant on the Upper Wards who had a fair amount of items to sell, as well as some random information on various colonies in the Traverse. Morlan, a salarian in the Lower Wards, was the other merchant I decided to check back on. Both of them had some nice looking weapons, upgrades and equipment. Kaidan, Garrus, Tali and I spent more time than I'd like to admit drooling over the Mark VII Cipher Tool from Elkoss Combine, while Ashley and Wrex kept rolling their eyes. Unfortunately, even that was out of our price range.

I should also mention that I dropped by one of the extranet lounges and did some research on that reporter in the Wards, Emily Wong. The OSD I picked up from Fist's office was chock-full of his files. It'd be a mother lode for an enterprising reporter. From what I found, she wasn't the sort who'd sold out to those gossip rags or tabloids. Showed some promise, if she could land a good story.

Deciding to help her out, I sought her out on my way to the Wards markets. It was surprisingly challenging: a high proportion of the women in the Wards were wearing the same style of dress. Maybe it was in fashion or something. Thankfully, I saw her waiting near the same spot I'd first met her, and moseyed over.

She smiled at me in welcome. "Word on the street is that you've been busy. Congratulations on taking down Fist."

"Thanks," I said.

"I was sure he was a big player in anything going on here. Did you find anything in his office that could help me?"

I handed over Fist's OSD. "This might have the information you're looking for."** (4)**

Her jaw dropped. "You got Fist's files?" she asked incredulously. "This could be even bigger than I'd hoped. She handed me some credits. "Here, Commander. For your trouble."

"People need to hear this story," I replied. "I'm glad I could help."

"Thank you, Commander," she said warmly. "I'll certainly let you know if I find anything that could help you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should go see what's on these disks."

* * *

After that, I spent the next hour or so wandering around, and solved problems for a lot of people in the process. Helped a C-Sec officer persuade a hanar evangelist to stop preaching on the Presidium. Got some bean counter to release the body of a soldier who'd died on Eden Prime for a funeral, instead of being used to make better anti-geth weaponry. Saved the reputation of some high-priced but well-regarded asari hooker. Signed an autograph for some gushing fan. That sort of thing.

Eventually, I decided to seek out Udina. See what TPTB had dug up. However, he wasn't in his office.

The receptionist, an asari named Saphyria, paged him for me. Apparently, he and Captain Anderson were waiting at Dock 422, outside the Normandy. Seemed strange, but I was planning on going to the C-Sec requisitions office anyways. And that was right outside the dock elevator.

When we got there, the C-Sec requisitions officer, a turian, was busy on the computer. I decided to wait for a minute until he noticed us. He only needed ten seconds.

"One sec, looking you up," he said. His fingers tapped over the keyboard.

"Commander Shepard, here with the Alliance Military. First time on the Citadel." He looked up at me. "That about right?"

"How did you know all that?" I asked curiously.

"I need to make sure our buyers are authorized," he explained. "So, will you be purchasing anything today, Commander Shepard?"

"Show me what you've got," I nodded.

"Sounds good," he replied. "Just let me set you up." His fingers tapped over the keyboard again, and then stopped. "Whoa," he said, confused. "This... this must be a mistake. System's telling me to offer you our select stock... Spectre?"

A look of realization spread over his face, followed swiftly by embarrassment. "Well... I'd heard about that, but I didn't realize it was you. Sorry, Commander."

I shook my head. "No harm done," I reassured him. "They just swore me in a few hours ago. I'm kinda surprised they made it official so quickly."

"When the Council puts their mind to it..." the officer didn't say anymore, but he didn't have to. "I'll open the rare stocks for you, Commander. Enjoy."

We examined the selection. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the Spectre Master Gear. Assault rifle. Shotgun. Pistol. Sniper rifle. Some of them were head and shoulders above _anything_ I'd seen so far. They also cost hundreds of thousands of credits per weapon, _minimum_.

I'd never wanted anything so badly. Clearly, I'd have to start saving. A lot. **(5)**

Once again, we left without buying anything. This seemed to be a rather depressing trend. Made me wonder what people see in window shopping. Anyways, we took the elevator up to Dock 422. Not much to say about that.

When we got out, Udina and Anderson were waiting for us. True to form, Udina was the first to speak. But I'd never have guessed what he would say. Not in another fifty thousand years:

"I've got big news for you, Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now."

* * *

_(1): The details on how the turians ultimately ended the Krogan Rebellions are covered in one of Shepard's personnel evaluations, and need not concern us at this juncture. At this point, I should add that Urdnot Wrex was alive around the end of the Krogan Rebellions, which would make him at least 1400 years old._

_(2): Apparently the adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is not restricted to humanity._

_(3): Unfortunately for Shepard, the Citadel's IT department had the necessary tools to defeat the best hacking subroutines and Trojan horses he had at his disposal. _

_(4): Shepard fails to note that he copied Fist's files beforehand and included them as an attachment in his official report to the Alliance. _

_(5): Shepard found another solution. As readers can probably guess, it involved selling off the surplus gear he miraculously stumbled across during his travels. _


	10. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Udina's words echoed in my head for the next second or so. "Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." Like Anderson would ever do that willingly.

I looked at the captain, just to make sure I wasn't hearing things. He nodded, confirming my fears.

"She's quick and quiet, and you know the crew," he said. "Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander."

For once, I managed to suppress my obsessive curiosity. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Udina screwed Anderson over for the sake of political expediency. The last thing Anderson needed was to be humiliated again just because I was too stupid to connect the dots, so I reassured him that I'd take good care of the ship, and, by association, the crew. **(1)**

"What kinds of leads do we have?" I continued, hoping to get past this awkward moment.

If Anderson did feel any humiliation or awkwardness, he hid it very well. "Saren's gone. Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues.

"We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact. And there have been sightings around Noveria," Udina added.

"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does," Anderson resumed.

"What about the Reapers?" I asked. "They sound like the real threat here."

Udina was shaking his head before I even finished. "I'm with the Council on this one, Shepard. I'm not sure they even exist."

More like you're not sure the Reapers can help you score any political points, I thought to myself.

Anderson was a bit more conciliatory. "But if they do exist, the Conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the Conduit and we stop the Reapers from returning."

"Got it," I said. "Anything else?"

"We have one more lead," Udina admitted. "Matriarch Benezia, that other voice on the recording? She has a daughter, a scientist and archaeologist who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved, but it might be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows. Her name's Liara. Dr. Liara T'Soni. We have reports she was exploring an archaeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."

So it looked like I had three leads to follow: Feros, Noveria, and this Dr. T'Soni in the Artemis Tau cluster. I could go off on a wild-goose chase to check out these geth reports on Feros. Or I could seek a wilder goose-chase to investigate the supposed Noveria sightings.

I guess, when I put it that way, the choice was pretty simple.

"Sounds like we should head for the Artemis Tau cluster," I decided out loud. Maybe this Dr. T'Soni could provide some insight into her mother that would help us out. Besides, playing hide-and-seek sounded safer than deliberately chasing after geth.

"It's your decision, Commander," Anderson reminded me. "You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us." Well, not officially, anyways.

Naturally, Udina had to stick his nose in. "But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole. You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up."

"I'll try not to make things any harder for you, Ambassador," I replied, somehow succeeding in keeping the rest of what I wanted to say quiet.

Udina looked like he believed me, which only proved he was a lousy judge of character. "Glad to hear it, Commander. Remember: you were a human long before you became a Spectre."

Good to know. They say memory's the first to go, after all.

"I have a meeting to get to. Captain Anderson can answer any questions you might have."

As usual, Udina didn't bother with the customary farewells, making a beeline for the elevator. I found myself wondering if I should hack the elevator controls while he was halfway down.

Anderson interrupted me before I could do anything rash (though undeniably fun). "Anything you need, Commander?"

"How are you holding up?" I asked.

"Honestly?" Anderson shook his head. "This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn't my thing. **(2)** But you're the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you, Shepard. If that means I have to step aside, so be it."

I know he meant well, but my guilt spiked when he said those words. And that made my next question even more painful: "Captain... I have to know. What exactly is your history with Saren?"

Anderson sighed. "It's close to twenty years ago now. Ambassador Goyle was our representative here on the Citadel. Like Udina, she wanted to get a human into the Spectres. She chose me.

"The Council sent Saren to keep an eye on me and evaluate my performance. Just like they sent Nihlus to keep tabs on you." I motioned for him to continue.

"We had intel on a rogue scientist being funded by batarian interests. He was trying to set up a facility to develop illegal AI tech out in the Verge. Alliance intel had done all the work, but the Council wanted a Spectre involved. We compromised: I was assigned to help Saren in his investigation.

"We tracked the scientist to a refining facility on Camala. He was hidden away somewhere inside, protected by an army of batarian mercenaries. The plan was simple: sneak into the plant, capture the scientist, sneak back out. Quick, quiet and a minimum of bloodshed."

"I'm guessing things didn't go as planned," I said dryly.

Anderson smiled faintly. "Saren and I split up to cover more ground. Then, about halfway through the mission, there was a massive explosion in the refinery core.

"Officially, it was ruled an accident. But I think Saren detonated it on purpose to draw off the enemy guards."

"How many casualties?" I asked.

"The explosion tore the refinery to shreds. The whole place was on fire. Black chemical clouds poured out into the atmosphere. No one inside survived.

"There was a camp for the workers and their families nearby. Between the fire and the toxic fumes, the final death count was over 500. Mostly civilians.

"Saren didn't care. The target was eliminated. Mission accomplished. And I ended up taking the blame. That ended all talk of me joining the Spectres."

I frowned, replaying what Anderson just said. "If Saren caused the explosion, how'd he pin it on you?"

"In his report, Saren accused me of blowing his cover. He said it was my fault the guards were ready for us. He claimed that was why it turned into a massacre. Saren's report was all the proof the Council needed to kill my chances of becoming a Spectre."

He shook his head again. "I had a bad feeling about him right from the start. I _should've _been more careful. Maybe I could've stopped things before they got out of hand."

"Don't blame yourself, Captain," I told him.

Anderson lifted his head and looked me square in the eye. "I don't," he said, quietly but firmly. "I blame Saren. I think he wanted things to go bad. He was looking for an excuse to blow that refinery. Maybe he just likes the violence. Maybe he was just trying to make me look bad to keep humans out of the Spectres. If so, he pulled it off."

"Not this time," I vowed. Anderson smiled. Good. His spirits seemed to be picking up. **(3)**

We chatted for a few more minutes about the leads Udina mentioned. Eventually, there was a pause. "Is there anything else, Commander?" Anderson asked.

I shook my head. "I should go."

"I'll be in the embassy if you need anything. Good luck."

* * *

With that, my companions and I entered the airlock to get decontaminated before boarding the ship. Waiting while the sterilization beams swept over us again and again and again... it was almost as bad as the damn elevators. Eventually, the ship's VI concluded that we wouldn't be tracking any germs around, and we were allowed to go onboard.

I spent the next hour or so cooped up in Captain Anderson's former quarters. My quarters now. I'd miss my sleeper pod, but I'd been so busy lately, I hadn't even slept in it. Anyways, I had a lot of paperwork to fill out.

Amongst other things, I had to confirm Pressly as the new XO. Still hard to believe that someone else had to do that job now. I must've set a new record for fastest promotion ever. Anyways, Pressly had the most experience amongst any of the officers, and he'd been holding down the proverbial fort while Anderson and I were on the Citadel.

Recalling his animosity towards turians, I talked with him before making things official. Issues about his family's participation in the First Contact War aside, it sounded like any concerns he had about non-humans onboard stemmed more from his feelings that Saren attacked a human colony. As such, he regarded it as humanity's problem and responsibility to handle. However, he assured me that he would never let his personal feelings get in the way of the mission, and if I felt having non-humans tag along was okay, he'd abide by my decision.

Not the most ringing endorsement I'd ever heard, but I've met too many people who were completely incapable of separating their personal and professional lives. As long as he didn't devolve into a raving "speciesist," I could live with him as the new XO.

With that out of the way, I headed up to the cockpit. For whatever reason, the intercom on the command deck was located there. Joker glanced up when he heard me enter.

"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson," he said. "Man survives a hundred battles, and then gets taken down by backroom politics.

"Just watch your back, Commander. Things go bad on this mission; you're next on their chopping block."

Right. Fastest and shortest promotion in Alliance history. Not to mention most undeserved. "Captain Anderson should be the one in charge," I said. "It's like I'm stealing the ship from him."

Joker stopped what he was doing and turned his head to face me. "The captain got screwed. But it's not like you could've stopped them. Nobody's blaming you. Everyone on the ship's behind you, Commander. One hundred percent."

"I didn't think anyone held me responsible," I reassured him. "And I appreciate the support."

"Intercom's open," Joker said, gesturing towards the panel. "If you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."

I reached over and selected ship-wide communications. Thank god for all those speeches I'd had to give as Hero of the Blitz. Gave me plenty of material to BS something on the fly.

"This is Commander Shepard speaking," I began. "We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy.

"For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy! Time to show them what humans are made of!

"Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them, too.

"Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all... we _will _stop him."

I shut down the comm and let out a breath. Damn speeches. Never liked hearing them. Never liked giving them.

"Well said, Commander," Joker complimented me. "Captain would be proud."

"The captain gave up everything so I could have this chance. We can't fail," I replied.

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Having given that hopefully rousing pep talk, I headed over to the Galaxy Map to select our destination. The Artemis Tau cluster consisted of four star systems. According to the Map, it seemed the mass relay to the Artemis Tau cluster was closest to the Athens system, so I figured that was as good a place as any to start my search.

We'd only arrived in the Athens system for a few minutes when Joker's voice popped through my radio speakers.

"Commander. Urgent message from Alliance Command coming in. I'll patch it through."

A new, gravelly voice came in. "Shepard, this is Admiral Hackett from Alliance Command," he introduced himself. "We've got a situation here, and you're the only one who can handle it."

How many times had I heard that before, I wondered. Aloud, I asked him what he needed.

"There's an Alliance training ground where we test weapons and technology in live-fire simulations. One of the VI's we use to simulate enemy tactics in the drills is no longer responding to our override commands. It's gone rogue."

"It's gone rogue," I repeated, Anderson's talk about AI research still ringing in my head. "Are you telling me this computer is thinking on its own?"

Hackett instantly understood what I was getting at. "We're not stupid, Shepard," he replied. "This is a virtual intelligence, not a true AI. It's not self-aware, and it can't access any external systems. We didn't do anything illegal here."

"Just trying to get a handle on the situation, sir," I said. "I know how important VI support is to the Alliance."

"Then you can imagine why we were using one in this training ground," he continued. "Anyway, we need you to fight your way through the training ground to the VI core, and _manually _disable it.

Great.

"Can't you disable it remotely?" I asked.

"Our failsafes aren't responding," Hackett answered. "It operates on a closed network, so it can't access any external systems, but that means we don't have any direct access to its processes, either. We could bomb it from orbit, but the damage to the facility would be catastrophic. We'd prefer to have someone shut down the core. Someone like you."

Before I could even think of sighing in frustration, Hackett continued. "I know Spectres answer to the Council, but you're still human. You're still part of the Alliance military, and right now we need you. The VI controls all of the facility's weapons, drones and automated defences. You're the only one who can pull this off, Shepard. Good luck."

He sent me the location of the training ground just before he signed off. Good timing, or I would have registered a fresh protest, superior officer or not: the training ground was on Earth's moon, Luna. I couldn't believe it. He had an entire _fleet_ that was closer to Luna than I was, never mind all those regiments that were stationed on nearby stations or colony worlds, and he wanted _me_ and my _squad _to handle it. Even though I was halfway across the galaxy!

I sighed. I had more respect for him than the other REMFs, as everything I'd heard about him suggested he actually gave a damn about the grunts under his command and was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. That didn't make things any easier.

Putting this extra mission to the back of my mind, we started scanning the planets. Thanks to the Normandy's sensors, I was able to find a large concentration of helium-3 on one planet and a large amount of oxygen on another. And since I was the first one to discover it, the bounties would go to us. **(4)**

No Prothean ruins, though, so we moved on to the Knossos system. It had several deposits of platinum in one asteroid belt, an abandoned salarian fighter with some trinket in another belt, a large concentration of nitrogen on one of the planets... and a world called Therum. According to the Alliance database, it was supposedly covered in Prothean ruins. Bingo!

Deciding to investigate that planet in person, I left the command deck to gather up my squad. While I could've just radioed everyone and told them to meet me in the garage, I figured that, for the first offworld mission, I should rustle up the posse in person.

Kaidan was the only one in the living quarters area, vainly trying to fix the control panel outside the sleeper pods. He seemed relieved to hear we had a mission, and quickly fell in line.

Ashley, Garrus and Wrex were in the storage area, which effectively doubled as our garage. **(5)** Tali, I was told, had stayed with them just long enough to claim a locker before making a beeline for engineering. Casting a baleful look at the Mako, which I'd have the misfortune to drive shortly, I told Kaidan to inform them of our mission and get them suited up, then headed over to pick up Tali.

Adams, the Chief Engineer, intercepted me as soon as I stepped inside. "Hey, Commander," he said. "You know that quarian? Tali? She's been spending all her time down here asking me about our engines."

"Is she causing any problems or interfering with your work?" I asked. "If so, I'll tell her to leave you alone."

"What?" Adams looked confused, before he realized that I had misunderstood him. "No! She's amazing," he enthused. "I wish my guys were half as smart as she is. Give her a month on board and she'll know more about our engines than I do! She's got a real knack for technology, that one. I can see why you wanted her to come along."

Ah. Far from getting in the way, she'd taken it upon herself to help out the engineering crew. And made quite the impact, judging by Adams's reaction.

I shrugged modestly. "I figured she'd be a real asset to the team."

"You've got an eye for talent, Commander. But I'm guessing that's not why you came down here."

"Got a mission," I replied. "If you can spare her, I figured I'd make use of her talents."

"I was planning to get her opinion on how to improve the drive core's efficiency, but that can wait until you get back," he answered.

"Thanks. Carry on, Adams."

"Aye, aye, sir."

I tried to catch Tali's attention, but she was thoroughly absorbed at one of the computer panels, so I had to walk over and tap her on the shoulder.

"Your ship is _amazing_, Shepard!" Tali greeted me enthusiastically. "I've never seen a drive core like this before. I can't believe you were able to fit it into a ship this small. I'm starting to understand why you humans have been so successful. I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced!"

"The Normandy's a prototype," I explained. "Cutting-edge technology."

Tali looked around, her body posture expressing her wonder. "A month ago, I was patching a makeshift fuel line into a converted tug ship in the Flotilla. Now, I'm sitting on board one of the most advanced vessels in Citadel space. I have to thank you again for bringing me along. Travelling on a vessel like this is a dream come true for me."

I had to smile: her enthusiasm was rather infectious. "I had no idea you found ship technology so fascinating."

Tali shrugged. "It comes with being a quarian. The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of my people. Ships are our most valuable resource. But we don't have anything like this," she gestured around her. "We have to make do with castoffs and second-hand equipment, and try to keep them running as long as we can. Some of the Fleet's larger vessels date all the way back to our original flight from the geth."

I whistled. "I can't believe your fleet's still using ships that are three centuries old."

"They're constantly being repaired, modified and refitted. They aren't pretty, but they work. Mostly." she amended. "We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the Flotilla. Grow our own food, mine and process our own fuel. But some things we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the hull integrity requires raw materials we just don't have. That's why our Pilgrimages are so important."

"I can see that," I replied. "For now, though, we've found a possible world where Dr. T'Soni might be exploring. I thought you'd like to come along."

Despite her obvious desire to stay in Engineering, she was quick to agree. As we chatted on our way to the Mako, Tali gave high praise to Adams. Apparently, he'd taken it upon himself to act as her mentor while she was on board and make her feel welcome. I wasn't really surprised, as I recalled a conversation I had with Captain Anderson just before our shakedown run started.

Apparently, Anderson had visited the SSV Tokyo, Adams's previous posting, and had commented that the shuttle's thrusters were a bit sluggish. Not only did Adams stayed up all night to fix the problem, he also stayed long enough to explain exactly what the problem was, how it had occurred, and how frequently it occurred in relation to other common shuttle malfunctions. As a result, Anderson came away with a far greater understanding of shuttle and, by extension, starship technology, and a determination to invite him onto his crew at the earliest opportunity.

When we reached the Mako, Kaidan, Ashley and Wrex were standing outside, suited up and good to go. Garrus was suited up as well, but was underneath the Mako, tinkering with the Mako's wheels. When Kaidan helpfully informed him of our arrival, he made a final tweak, and then got up.

"Gears were out of alignment," he explained. "I've done what I can to fix it, but it looks like it'll shift back out of alignment every time you take it out. Not to mention the navigation software's full of bugs." As I would later find out, this recurring problem prompted Garrus to spend most of his spare time in the garage, calibrating and re-calibrating the Mako. Similar to Kaidan and "his" computer panel, though Garrus seemed to have more success.

"That explains a lot," Ashley commented. "My unit... my _former_ unit," she corrected with a wince, "never used our Mako unless we absolutely had to. We couldn't trust it to go straight."

"Well, it's a piece of crap," I admitted, "but the only other alternative is walking. So we'll have to suck it up and bite the bullet." Noting the confused expressions that Wrex and Garrus (and presumably Tali, though her faceplate prevented me from seeing it) were sporting, I added "I'll explain later."

Kaidan, Ashley, Wrex and Tali got into the Mako. Garrus stayed behind. Gathering that he wanted to say something in private, I waited for him to make the first move.

"Thanks for bringing me on board, Commander," he began. "I knew working with a Spectre would be better than life at C-Sec."

"Have you worked with a Spectre before?" I asked.

"Well, no," he acknowledged, "but I know what they're like. Spectres make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way. At C-Sec, you're _buried_ by rules. The damn bureaucrats are _always_ on your back."

"For the most part, the rules are there for a reason," I pointed out. After all, if it weren't for those rules, I wouldn't know what I could get away with or what I could bend to my liking.

Garrus wasn't convinced. "Maybe. But sometimes it feels like the rules are only there to stop me from doing my work. If I'm trying to take down a suspect, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it. But C-Sec wants it done their way. Protocol and procedure come first. That's why I left."

I had suspected that Garrus was experiencing some dissatisfaction with his job, but I hadn't realized it had gotten that far. "So you just quit because you didn't like the way they do things?"

He shook his head. "There's more to it than that. It didn't start out bad, but as I rose in rank, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving..."

He stopped there, obviously torn. "I hope you made the right choice," I said. "I'd hate for you to regret it later."

"Well, that's sort of why I teamed up with you," he explained. "It's a chance for me to get off the Citadel, see how things are done out of C-Sec."

Fair enough. Spend too long in one place and you can get a little too static in your thinking.

"Either way, I plan to make the most of this. And without C-Sec headquarters looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done my way for a change."

"If getting the job done means endangering innocent people, then no," I said sharply. "We get the job done right, not fast. Got it?"

"I wasn't trying to—," Garrus began frantically, before deflating. "Yes, Commander," he finished softly.

Oops. Maybe that was a bit much.

"Look, I didn't mean to be so strong," I apologized. "It's just, the last person who was a bit too eager to get things done, rather than taking the time to do them correctly, wound up getting killed. I'd hate for you to follow in his footsteps." Especially since that would mean one less body to stand between me and harm's way.

"Understood, Commander," Garrus said. "Shall we?" He tilted his head towards the Mako.

I motioned for him to go first. Somehow, we got in. As I squeezed myself into the driver's seat, I quickly found a silver lining: it meant I wouldn't be stuck in the back, where Wrex had somehow wedged himself in. His bulk filled up quite a bit of room, making things even more crowded than they already were.

Ignoring my companions' complaints and struggles for room, I quickly did the standard pre-drop check, while giving them a quick briefing of why we were going on this away mission. Thankfully, the board was green. I figured the squad would be slightly happier, given the cramped conditions, if we were actually moving.

"Joker," I signalled. "Ready to drop."

"Roger, Commander," he acknowledged. "Drop in five... four... three... two... one..."

I have never enjoyed orbital drops. Scare the crap out of me. Hell, I still have nightmares from that roller coaster ride on that amusement park my parents took me to. It was the first time I'd been on an actual planet. After that debacle, it took me almost ten years before I set foot on a planet again.

Therefore, let's just say we dropped, we landed with a couple bounces, and we survived. 'Nuff said.

Joker came in over the comm, just as our heads stopped rattling around. "Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings," he reported. "Really strange. Like, off the damn charts. It looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few klicks away from the drop zone."

"Understood, Joker," I replied. "Send the data to the Mako and establish geo-synchronous orbit."

"Already done, Commander," he answered. "Normandy, out."

* * *

The first five minutes or so were tranquil, given the circumstances. By that, I mean no one was taking pot-shots at us. The scenery was hardly tranquil. As Wrex put it: "Nothing but rocks, dirt and lava. Reminds me of home."

Okay, aside from the reference to home, he was pretty much bang-on as far as I was concerned. Anyways, we just reached the crest of a small hill when we heard a howl that seemed to grow louder and louder.

Suddenly, some kind of ship swooped overhead. Judging from its size, it was some kind of frigate. Looked like an oversized metal hornet. It hovered about two hundred metres in front of us, just long enough to drop two packages, and then flew away.

"Kaidan, Ashley, get on weapons," I ordered, while linking the viewscreen to the weapon system's cameras. I wanted to zoom in on whatever that ship had dropped. While that would dramatically decrease my field of vision, my inner voice told me I really ought to see what I was getting the squad into.

Unfortunately, my inner voice knew what it was talking about. To my horror, I saw those "packages" were actually giant quadruped platforms, whose legs were distributed equidistantly around the base. Its "head and neck" vaguely resembled a metal horse. What really worried me, though, was the giant flashlight on their heads.

"Geth armatures," Tali identified.

"Tali, what are they packing?" I asked her.

Thankfully, she knew what I meant. "Similar to the Mako's armament," she replied, indicating that the Normandy's drive core wasn't the only thing she had studied. "At this range, they'll use their siege pulse cannons, which are their equivalent of the mass accelerator cannons."

"Right," I decided. "Kaidan, Ashley, focus on the closest armature and take it out first." I paused to activate the Mako's thrusters, jumping it, and us, over two glowing rounds that came from the armatures. "I'll use the thrusters every now and then to keep them from hitting us."

"Roger," they replied in unison. The machine gun fired first, draining most of the first armature's shields before it overheated. While the operator—Ashley, as I later found out—paused to let it cool down, Kaidan fired a round from the MAC. "Gotta jump," I warned before hitting the thrusters. Cut it a bit close, as one of the rounds grazed the Mako's shields.

This went on for a few minutes, but the armatures eventually collapsed in a couple heaps of scrap. It helped that they kept shuffling their legs together just before firing. I wasn't sure why they needed to assume that particular "firing position," but it sure made it easier to determine when to jump. With that concluded, we breathed a sigh of relief and drove on.

We had just driven past the armatures and round a bend in the path when we came across a large gate that completely blocked the path. In front of the gate stood three turrets, all of which fired at us in unison.

Quickly, I hit the thrusters again. Thanks to the practise from the armatures, I managed to avoid all three shots.

"This route's a no-go," Ashley concluded. "Those turrets have height and range."

"Only a fool punches a nathak in the mouth," Wrex advised. "We should sneak around and pull its tail."

Translating his commentary as a suggestion that we should find an alternate route, I quickly looked about and spotted a path branching off to the right. Hitting the gas pedal, I revved the Mako forward, just in time to avoid another volley from the turrets.

As the Mako entered the side path, I breathed a sigh of relief. Naturally, it was too soon.

"Turret," Ashley yelled as we rounded a corner. Yep. The geth were rude enough to plant another turret smack in the middle of the path. Using the same shoot-and-jump technique that we'd used on the armatures, and that, incidentally, I'd been trained to use when facing enemy vehicles or rocket-armed infantry, we quickly dealt with it.

Hopping over the now-smoking turret, we drove on. As it turned out, that path was a secondary route into a clearing that the gate was guarding. Unfortunately, the geth knew all about it, and had stationed troops to guard it. Fortunately, there were no more turrets. The worst we had to face was what Tali identified as a Juggernaut, a stronger version of the Destroyer, and a Rocket Trooper. On foot, we might have been hard-pressed to handle them. In the Mako, it was much easier.

Once the guards were destroyed, I drove the Mako into the middle of the clearing. I saw there were two gates, the first one which we had seen before taking that little detour. Each gate was bordered by two structures or gatehouses.

"Everyone out," I ordered, unbuckling my seatbelt. Once everyone had complied, I gave my next orders. "Kaidan, take Wrex and Ashley and check out that gatehouse," I ordered, pointing to the closest gatehouse blocking the first gate. "See if there's anything we can use. The rest of you, with me."

Kaidan and his fire-team moved off to the gatehouse I'd indicated, while the rest followed me to the second gatehouse.

The gatehouse was pretty basic. A ramp led off to our right to the corner of the building. An incline led up the side to a catwalk, which ran back parallel to the ramp we were on. In the middle was some kind of tank on girders, which vaguely reminded me of a water tower.

Anyways, I could see a storage locker at the end of the ramp. Unfortunately, my HUD picked up a single target moving around, and I doubted it was friendly.

Gesturing for Garrus and Tali to follow my lead, I pulled out my pistol. Tali pulled out her own, while Garrus preferred his assault rifle. Quietly, we crept down the ramp. Craning my head to look past all the junk in the middle of the building, my eyes widened as they identified the target.

"Rocket trooper," I mouthed. Garrus and Tali nodded grimly. "On three," I mouthed again. "One, two..."

On three, we jumped out and opened fire. Apparently, that geth's audio receptors were busted, because it was completely caught off guard. It didn't even have a chance to raise its weapon before it dropped to the ground.

With that over with, I turned my attention to the storage locker. Of course it was locked. Thankfully, it was a cheap lock, easy to hack. My eyes lit up as soon as I opened it. Mark VIII Raptor assault rifle from Devlon Industries. Mark VIII Punisher sniper rifle from Armax Arsenal. Gemini VIII biotic amp, also from Armax. I handed Garrus the Raptor, happily took the Punisher, and dropped the amp in one of my suit's pouches to give to Kaidan or Wrex when we next linked up.

Moving up the ramp, I saw some kind of switch at the end of the catwalk. It was just asking for me to trot over and activate it. So I did. Big mistake, as it turned out.

"Commander," Kaidan's voice burst in over the comm, just as we exited the gatehouse. "The gate just went down."

My eyes jerked over. Sure enough, the gate had retracted. My fire-team had a clear line of sight to one of the turrets, which was now happily firing at us.

"Yeah, that was me," I answered, somewhat sheepishly, as we ducked. "Listen up. Use your tech mines to sabotage the weapons systems and overload the shields. That should give us a chance to take it out."

Kaidan must have been wondering what drugs I was on earlier, but complied. Garrus, Tali and I threw our tech mines more or less simultaneously. With a series of explosions and sparks, the turret's weapons and shields went down. It occurred to me, belatedly, that maybe I should have divided up the squad a bit more evenly. Oops.

In that moment of regret, inspiration hit me. "Garrus, get your sniper rifle." I holstered my pistol, pulled out the sniper rifle I'd just liberated, and aimed it at the turret.

"Gotcha," Garrus answered. He was behind me, so I couldn't see him, but I assumed I'd given him enough time to obey my orders. Through the rifle's scope, I zoomed in on some piece of the turret that looked very complicated and delicate. "Fire!"

Two shots hit that sensitive-looking part simultaneously. To my delight, the entire turret exploded. Glancing up, I saw Kaidan's team was still firing away. I glanced at the Mako and cursed myself for parking it so far away. We'd never be able to get to it before the last turret took us out.

"Okay, team," I said briskly. "We're taking out the last turret. Same drill as before. Ready?"

"Ready," they replied in unison. With a gesture, we ran away from the building, just far enough to see the middle turret. Ducking in time to avoid the inevitable fire, and thankful that it could only fire one of those rounds every ten seconds or so, we threw our tech mines, waited for them to disable the turret, and fired.

We destroyed the middle turret at the same time that Kaidan's team destroyed their first one. I waved them to meet up with us by the Mako. Once they arrived, I allowed a look of chagrin to spread over my face.

"Sorry about that," I said apologetically.

"What for?" Wrex asked happily. "We've been using your Mako to deal with all the geth so far. This is the first time I got to take something down myself."

Ashley gave him a look, then shrugged and allowed a satisfied grin to spread over her own face.

"That was a good plan to take out those turrets, though, Commander," Kaidan said.

I nodded my thanks. "That may be, but I think your squad needs a bit more tech support." I looked over Kaidan's team, and then looked at mine. "Garrus, Wrex, switch teams. That oughta even things out."

Wrex nodded in approval. "That'll give your squad some biotic support as well. Good call, Shepard."

I decided not to tell him I'd forgotten about that, too.

Garrus and Wrex moved to obey my orders, and I gave Wrex the amp I just picked up. He gave a feral grin, holstered his assault rifle, and then reached behind his head to switch out his own biotic amp.

"Doesn't that hurt, Wrex?" Tali asked.

"Nope," came the answer.

"Okay, my team's going over there," I said, pointing to some construction supplies near the gatehouse I'd just left. "Kaidan, get your team into the Mako and drive over there." I pointed to the second gate. "Search around the perimeter for anything we can use. If we aren't there yet, wait for us."

"Roger," Kaidan acknowledged. He waved at Ashley and Garrus to follow him, while I led Wrex and Tali towards the supplies.

To my delight, I found two small crates, which were chock full of pistols and sniper rifles from Rosenkov Materials and Haliat Armory, respectively. There was one last item in there. I picked it up and whistled. Behind me, I heard Tali gasp.

It was a Savant omni-tool, from the Serrice Council. An asari consortium, they were known for making the best of the best equipment out there. Their armour, while only available for turians, had the best tech and biotic countermeasures out there, and their damage protection and shields weren't too shabby, either. More importantly, nobody, and I mean _nobody_, made better biotic amps or omni-tools. On top of everything, that baby was a Mark _IX_. Only the Mark X Savant was better, and even then, its only advantage lay in faster tech mine fabrication.

I stood there for a minute, mentally drooling over it, and debating what to do. With a gut-wrenching decision, I held it out towards Tali.

"Shepard?" she whispered. "Are you..."

"You'd better take it before I change my mind," I joked half-heartedly. Damn this noble hero rep!

Nodding in hesitation, she took it and swapped it with her old omni-tool. A Mark V Cipher. Older version of the Mark VII we'd seen back in one of the shops on the Citadel. She paused, and tilted her head to one side. "Tali?" I prompted.

Lifting one finger in a "Hold on" gesture, she crouched on the ground. Putting the Cipher omni-tool in her lap, she grabbed some spare parts form one pouch, some tools from another, and started taking the omni-tool apart.

"Tali?" I asked again. She ignored me.

"Commander," a voice broke in over the comm. It was Kaidan. "We're done. Found another crate. Had a couple shotguns and an assault rifle. What about you?"

"Got some pistols and sniper rifles," I replied. "And an omni-tool. Gave it to Tali, who's now tinkering with her old one. Stand by."

I received Kaidan's acknowledgement and waited. And waited. Wrex started shuffling his feet, then started pulling out his weapons. I followed suit, and we spent the next few minutes examining the weapon mods and ammo blocks, debating whether to swap them out for something else or leave them as they were. We had just finished when Tali sighed in satisfaction, put her tools and whatnot away, and stood up.

"Here, Commander," she said, holding out the omni-tool.

Looking at her curiously, I took it, removed my old omni-tool and slotted her old one on. As my armour registered its presence, it fed the stats onto my HUD. My eyes widened. Based on the numbers I was reading, it was now the equivalent of a Mark _VIII_ Logic Arrest Tool. To say it was an upgrade would be an understatement. I looked at her in awe.

"I had an idea to make it better," she shrugged. "And it's the least I could do after you gave me this." She lifted up her left arm and pointed at her new Savant. "I know it's still a far cry from a Savant, but…"

"Thanks," I managed to say.

"If we're done," Wrex prompted. I shook my head.

"Right," I said. "Kaidan and the others are waiting for us."

With that, we jogged over to meet them. "I gave her a Mark IX Savant, and she wanted to upgrade her old omni-tool to give in exchange," I explained to Kaidan and Garrus. Their jaws dropped. Ashley glanced at Wrex and rolled her eyes. Wrex snorted.

"Okay," I said briskly. "Kaidan, take your team and check out the right gatehouse. We'll take the left."

For once, luck was on my side. My gatehouse was completely empty. Judging from the gunfire we suddenly heard, though, Kaidan's team encountered some company.

Motioning at Wrex and Tali to follow me, I grabbed my pistol and jogged out of the gatehouse. We were halfway to the other gatehouse when we heard some machinery come to life. With a grinding of gears, the second gate retracted.

A minute later, Kaidan's team came out. "Came across a shock trooper," he explained casually. "Found a weapons locker with a pistol and some more assault rifles. **(6)** Oh, and we also located the gate controls."

"Clearly," I said, matching his tone. "Well, I suppose we should get back into the Mako and get moving."

With a groan, the squad piled in, and we drove off.

* * *

The next half-hour can be summed up as follows: geth armature. Shoot, hop, shoot, hop, repeat ad nauseam. Drive. Geth armature. Shoot, hop, shoot, hop, repeat ad nauseam. Geth armature, rocket troopers and other minor geth infantry. Shoot, hop, shoot, hop, repeat ad nauseam.

My brain felt like it was bouncing around my noggin by the time the last geth hit the dirt. I doubt the others fared much better. While I waited for my teeth to stop rattling, I pulled up the map. It looked like we had two large bridge/tunnel complexes to navigate through, then a very narrow slope to the Prothean ruins, which apparently were the source of the signal Joker had detected earlier. Maybe we'd be able to get out of the Mako again soon.

The first complex was peaceful. Drive up the ramp and through the tunnel. No hopping, no shooting. Then we reached the end of the tunnel, and the down-ramp. The Mako's sensors were registering three targets ahead of us, and they probably weren't friendly.

All the frustration of being cooped up in this glorified tin can must have finally pushed me over the edge, as a rather unorthodox idea came into my end. Allowing a demented grin to spread over my face, I stomped down on the gas pedal. Hard.

With a roar, the Mako lurched forward. Behind me, I heard my squad cry out in surprise. In hindsight, I probably should have filled them in first.

As we blasted out of the tunnel, we could visually identify the targets: three geth rocket troopers. Thankfully, they weren't expecting my so-called plan either. Before any of them had a chance to respond, I ran over two of them. The third one had just enough time to fire off a rocket, which was thankfully absorbed by the shields, before I slammed the Mako in reverse. Crushing that geth was just as satisfying as the first time.

"Maybe killing geth in the Mako can be fun after all," Wrex said thoughtfully.

We faced more geth rocket troopers (and one unlucky shock trooper) in the second complex, and dealt with them in the exact same manner. Unfortunately, we had only gone a couple hundred metres or so past the second complex before we came to a stop.

Before us lay a pool of lava. The Mako was spec'd to handle a wide range of hostile environmental conditions, but swimming in molten lava definitely exceeded its design parameters.

I pulled up the map. It still insisted there was a route to the ruins. I looked in the indicated direction. There was a thin gap in the wall. Barely wide enough to fit two soldiers abreast. Talk about narrow.

"Time to hit the ground," I ordered. The squad cheered, relieved to start moving and restore some circulation to their limbs. Not exactly what the instructors encouraged in OCS, but none of them were here, so I let it pass. Besides, I'd done worse in my time. **(7)**

Thankfully, the narrow passage widened into a larger ravine, littered with large boulders. Judging from the slope, it looked like it would lead up to the top of a large hill, where the Prothean ruins were situated. Remembering Eden Prime, I advised the squad to split up into fire-teams again, and make use of the available cover. My timing was perfect, as our HUDs started picking up multiple targets, moving in on our location. Fast.

The first one wasn't so bad. Just a plain, ordinary trooper. Against six opponents, it wasn't much of a contest. The next trooper was a bit more of a challenge, mainly because it was accompanied by a rocket trooper. Still, the odds were three-to-one in our favour. Not bad at all.

It was when we rounded the corner and saw the tower that I knew the reprieve was over. The tower itself was nothing more than a glorified platform with a roof and a ladder. However, any time someone sets up one of those things, you can guarantee there'll be at least one sniper or rocket-launcher-armed goon stationed up there. Plus, the tower was at the other end of a small depression in the terrain, which was cluttered with more boulders. Finally, I saw lights twinkling from a few spots in the depression and the path leading up the hill. As in flashlight-head lights.

In other words, we would have to fight through a bunch of geth who had the advantage of height and terrain, both natural and artificial. Typical, isn't it?

I quickly formulated a plan. Not much of one, but the best I could do under the circumstances. "Kaidan's team will stay here, provide covering fire and try to take out whatever's hiding in that tower. My team's going in to get up close and personal. The different threats provided by our teams should stall the geth's response long enough for us to take them out." While I would have preferred to change the team compositions to one where I _wasn't _going into that deathtrap, I couldn't see how to do so without compromising my heroic reputation in the eyes of my squad. "Questions?"

Everyone shook their head. "Okay. Take a minute to get your gear ready."

Wrex and Tali responded by pulling out their shotguns. In close-range combat, they were _the _weapon of choice. I'd use my shotgun myself, but I never got around to getting certified. Besides, you'd be surprised by the sheer amount of damage that can be caused by a single pistol.

Ashley and Garrus were having an intense discussion. From what I gathered, both of them were certified to use assault rifles and sniper rifles, and both of them agreed that one should use the former while the other handle the latter. The problem was, they couldn't decide who would use what. I wanted to step in, but I didn't want to diminish Kaidan's authority. It was his fire-team, after all.

Thankfully, before either of us had to step in, Ashley provided a simple solution: the age-old game of rock-paper-scissors. Garrus proved to be a quick study, as well as a lucky one: his three-taloned "paper" beat Ashley's "rock." With a grin, he pulled out his assault rifle, while Ashley grabbed her sniper rifle. I guess Therum had given him a chance to use that particular weapon, and he wanted to make the most of it.

Now that everyone was set, Kaidan pointed out a cluster of boulders about twenty metres in front of us. From there, his team would have an excellent line-of-sight to any geth that might want to poke their synthetic heads out. Trouble was, if they went there now, by the time they got set up, they'd be riddled with bullets. Time for the distraction.

"Wrex? Tali?" I asked.

"Ready," Wrex grunted.

"Right behind you, Shepard," Tali responded.

I took a deep breath. This was it. "On three, everyone: one, two, THREE!"

The next few minutes were almost surreal, mainly because we—and, more importantly, _I_—somehow made it all the way to the tower without getting shot. The shock trooper who tried to ambush us wound up getting riddled with holes from Garrus's assault rifle before a pistol shot (from either Kaidan or myself) took it down. The poor trooper who popped up next was killed in one shot by a single shotgun round from Wrex, judging by the triumphant howl that erupted from his mouth. Just before we got to the tower, the geth sniper who was hiding up there was killed. I knew that because the jamming signal that was cluttering up my HUD suddenly cleared up. And because the sniper fell to the ground, sporting a very large hole in its head. Nice timing on Ashley's part. Very thoughtful of her _not _to drop the sniper on our heads.

Then I looked up and saw two rocket troopers, two shock troopers and a trooper stationed farther up the path. All of whom had their weapons trained on us.

"Retreat!"

"What?" Wrex asked, though he had the sense to follow me instead of just standing there. I led my fire-team to a boulder situated next to the tower, hid behind it, and swapped my pistol for my sniper rifle. Grinning in understanding, Wrex traded his shotgun for his assault rifle. Tali took a little longer to figure out my plan, but quickly caught on, pulling out her pistol. Now all we had to do was wait, and hope that the geth took the bait.

Surprisingly enough, they did. Oh, they did move in waves, one group moving to a boulder and stopping, while the other leapfrogged to another position farther down, ensuring that some of them would always be covered. Trouble was, they moved right into the line-of-sight of our two fire-teams. They didn't know which threat to focus on, and by the time they made a choice, it was too late.

Once the excitement was over, I motioned for Kaidan's team to come join us. To my approval, they took their time, making ample use of all the cover that was scattered around. I should explain that my approval came from two reasons: one, they were exercising good tactics, even when the immediate threat had been neutralized, and two, every extra second they spent sneaking around was a second I could use to catch my breath.

"Everyone okay?" I asked when the squad was reunited. Receiving a "yeah" or the equivalent from everyone, I nodded. "Good. According to the map, we just have to jog up this part of the hill and we'll reach the ruins."

Well, not quite. There was one more geth lying in wait for us near the top of the hill. Just a trooper, though, and dumb enough to be hiding near the cliff face. One good biotic throw from Kaidan, and it was out of our way. And then we saw that we had to jog another three hundred metres to actually get to the ruins.

Still, I found myself thinking the worst was over. How quickly I was proven wrong…

The ruins were quite unimpressive. Just a bunch of girders and catwalks. There was a large ramp extending to the entrance of a mine of some sort. Presumably, the more impressive stuff was in there.

Just as we were passing underneath the closest catwalk, a geth dropped to the ground. Not because its processors finally went kaput. Because it wanted to get a good look at us before hopping to a nearby girder, where it clung like some kind of monkey. We did get a good look at it before it jumped away. Unlike all the other geth we'd faced so far, who were clad in armour plates, the body of this particular geth was composed of some kind of thick fibre. It looked very… muscular. Very… organic.

"Tali?" I asked again, expecting a response from our resident expert on the geth. To my surprise, she said "I… I have no idea. I've never seen or heard of any geth like that."

Off in the distance, we could hear a howl, rapidly growing louder. It sounded familiar.

Just before my memory recognized when I'd last heard that sound, the geth dropship swooped into sight. It dropped a number of geth troopers to the ground… and one really large package. As the dropship flew away, the package extended its front portion, revealing a giant light that shone coldly upon us.

As we watched in horror, the geth armature unfolded itself, rose to its full height, and stomped towards us.

* * *

_(1): Shepard's instincts were correct, and I did appreciate his discretion. As for Udina, well, I did manage to get some form of payback in the end._

_(2): There were only two silver linings to this development. I gained a better appreciation for everything Udina had to go through each day, and how it could make _anyone_ bitter. More importantly, my new assignment gave me a higher security clearance, which made it easier to see how Shepard and the Normandy were doing._

_(3): Oddly enough, it did feel good to tell my tale to another living soul, as opposed to typing it out in my AAR. _

_(4): Human expansion, both in terms of territory and standards of living, corresponded with a growing demand for resources, such as gases and metals. Unfortunately, few planets, moons or asteroids had been properly charted or surveyed, leaving any potential resources undiscovered. The Alliance Geological Service tried to rectify this by offering bounties to individuals or teams willing to perform mineralogical surveys, which would then be made publicly available. Normally, the high cost of travel and the hazards associated with many of these worlds deterred most attempts. Shepard, however, sought out these resources with the same tenacity as he scavenged weapons and equipment, making it a secondary source of additional income. _

_(5): While the bottom deck was technically known as Engineering, only part of it was reserved for the drive core. The remainder was set aside for cargo storage. Since it also stored the Mako, the Normandy's infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), that area was colloquially known as the "garage."_

_(6): This suggests that Shepard had quite the influence over the soldiers and companions under his command. _

_(7): Shepard was rumoured to have masterminded or participated in many shenanigans during his time at Officer Candidate School, or OCS. This included changing the homepages of the instructors' personal computers to various illegal extranet sites and tying the Alliance flag like a diaper around the statue of one of the more pompous admirals/headmasters. However, investigators could never find any definitive proof. _


	11. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Author's Note: At the moment, my aim is to put out a new chapter every couple weeks or so. I must admit, this is fuelled in large part by the number of people who have actually bothered to check out my fanfic, and, in particular, those who were generous enough to submit some comments._

_One of the things I love about Mass Effect is the dialogue system, and I can think of no truer way to show my appreciation of it than to incorporate it into this novelization. Having said that, there are times where I feel certain conversations are unnecessary or would break the flow of dialogue if I added it in verbatim. And sometimes I just feel the need to put my own spin on things. For those of you who love the dialogue as much as I do, rest assured that there's plenty more to come. For those of you who want a little more originality, be patient: your time will come. _

_I also wish to respond to the readers who questioned whether Anderson is the best candidate to serve as editor to Shepard's personal logs, given my aim to incorporate elements from the Ciaphas Cain series, and the relationship between Cain and his editor. While several good points have been raised, I should clarify tha,t while I am drawing certain elements and inspiration from the Cain series, this fanfic is not intended to be a direct translation. I also thought that it might break some suspension of disbelief if the editor had to constantly explain themes or terminology to an audience who already knew that stuff—readers may recall that I phased out the more dictionary-type explanations early on. In addition, when I started this fanfic, Anderson seemed the best option, given his maturity, experience, and probable security clearance. If I knew what I knew now... maybe I would've picked someone else._

_For the time being, I intend to stick with the status quo. More to Shepard's sorrow, I'm sure, given what the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz encounters during the "status quo." Speaking of which... _

* * *

I've done a lot of crazy things in my time, especially since I gained a certain horrible title, but playing chicken with a tank is definitely not one of them. Especially if the tank has legs.

Given that I was clearly distracted, I may be forgiven for not noticing the red beam dancing over my hardsuit... right up until it flashed and my shields went down. Not just took some damage. My shields were _completely drained_!

I suppose, after all the times I've overloaded the shields of my enemies, it was bound to happen to me sooner or later. It just goes to show, the universe really does run on irony.

"Take cover," I yelled, leaping for a nearby shipping container, which was the closest cover I could see. As my fire-team joined me, I noticed Kaidan's fire-team follow suit, hiding behind another shipping container. Frantically, I re-routed some of the power in my hardsuit to boost my shield recovery. To my relief, I saw the little blue "shield bar" fill up. I was safe. For now.

"Commander," Tali said, somehow keeping the trembling in her voice to a minimum. "I might be able to shift the odds in our favour, but I need a distraction so I can throw a tech mine."

"How's that going to help?" I asked. From what I saw before the container blocked my field of vision, the geth were pretty spread out. Tali wouldn't be able to disable more than a couple of geth, at best.

"Trust me," she said, her fingers already tapping away at her omni-tool.

Her omni-tool. The Savant omni-tool that I'd given her. I looked down at my new omni-tool, which Tali had worked her magic on as a thank-you gift. If she could do that...

I glanced at my HUD. Nothing but static, and a red "JAMMED" error message. So much for using that to formulate a plan of my own. Might as well go for the next best thing: "People, Tali's got a plan, and we're going to cover her. Pick a target of opportunity, fire at will, and don't get killed. We move on three: one, two, THREE!"

In unison, the squad poked their heads out and started firing. I was able to deal a whopping amount of damage to one of the hopping geth before it started shining a little red laser at me. Not wanting to lose my shields again, I decided discretion was the better part of valour and ducked back under cover.

It was at this point that something occurred to me: the geth were still firing but, judging by the lack of shots hitting our hiding spots, they were no longer firing _at _us. Noticing that my squad was still following my original orders, I decided to follow suit, and indulge my curiosity later.

I popped back out and opened fire again. In a stroke of luck, the geth I'd chosen was the same one I'd been firing at earlier. Either that, or it had a twin who had also taken a lot of damage. Either way, its shields were gone, and it was "bleeding" conductive fluid, so I only needed a couple shots to take it down.

Apparently, that was the last geth that was jamming our sensors, because my HUD abruptly cleared up. To my surprise, there was only one enemy signal in the vicinity. **(1)** Warily, I poked my head around the corner of the container.

Not surprisingly, the geth armature was still standing. Surprisingly, it was surrounded by geth bodies. Did Tali just...

I shook my head. Time to query about that later. "Tali, sabotage its weapons. Garrus—the shields. Kaidan, Wrex—biotics."

Sounds like another crazy plan, but when there aren't any other hostiles around; you'd be surprised how vulnerable a giant geth can become. After that kind of tech and biotic onslaught, the armature turned out to be easy pickings. It still took a few minutes until it collapsed, but they turned out to be a remarkably pain-free set of minutes.

Now that we were safe, we gathered together. "Tali... what did you do?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Hacked the armature's IFF protocols," she replied, unwittingly echoing my own modest words back on Eden Prime.

Kaidan, Garrus and I looked at each other, looked back at Tali and extended our arms—the one holding our omni-tools—towards Tali. "Can I have a copy," we asked in unison.

Tali jumped. Maybe we came on a little too strong. "S-Sure," she stuttered.

While she was copying over her hacking program, Ashley and Wrex scouted around. They reported that there were no other geth in the vicinity, and no Dr. T'Soni. Unless she was somewhere else entirely, she was in the mine, and the only way in was through a hatch at the top of a ramp. So that's where we went. Come right in, said the spider to the fly...

* * *

The first couple hundred metres consisted of a long cylindrical mining shaft. Nothing but rock and the occasional light for illumination. It was pretty peaceful until we reached the end of the shaft and almost bumped into the geth shock trooper.

We never got to find out whether it was a sentry or just going out to see whether the organic trespassers were pushing up daisies. The shock trooper fired at us, we fired back, and we walked away. And then we ducked, as a shot dug a nice hole in the rock overhead. We had emerged onto a catwalk that led off to a small ramp on the right. Below us, another shock trooper and a sniper were trying to take us out. Two of them versus six of us, and we had the high ground. They didn't last long.

After that, we headed down the catwalk and over to an elevator, which took us to another catwalk, which led to another elevator. In the distance, we could see some kind of blue glow. Possibly the signal Joker had detected earlier.

We did face some more geth, this time in the form of three assault drones, but it wasn't much to worry about. In fact, some of the squad felt relaxed enough to chat immediately after the fight.

"It looks like this cavern formed around the ruins. After it was built," Tali observed. She had a point. It didn't look like any of the rock had to be blasted out of the way to make way for whatever the Protheans built, and it seemed unlikely that they just happened to find a perfectly shaped hole to set up base.

"I wonder what Liara's looking for in here. Most Prothean ruins have nothing more than dead instrumentation," Garrus said, as we entered the second elevator. In other words, no data caches like the one we found on Mars. Maybe it was a more "traditional" kind of archaeological dig.

This time, the elevator only went down about four fifths of the way before screeching to a stop in a shower of sparks. Looking at my team, I shrugged and hopped down to the ramp below. It looked like whatever it was originally connected to had collapsed at some point, but there was another catwalk a couple metres below. It looked like it was right in front of the blue glow we had seen earlier.

"Uh... hello?" a voice called out. "Could somebody help me? Please?"

We hopped down onto the catwalk and faced the blue glow, which turned out to be some kind of force field. Behind it, a young asari hovered in mid-air, her arms extended perpendicular to her body. Probably due to the blue energy sphere she was encased in.

"Can you hear me out there," the asari asked. "I am trapped! I need help!"

"Calm down," I said soothingly. "What's your name?"

"Dr. Liara T'Soni," she replied. "I'm an archaeologist."

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "Listen: this thing I am in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it, all right?"

"How did you end up in there?" I asked.

"I was exploring the ruins when the geth showed up, so I hid in here. Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil!"

While the novelty had worn off for us, we chose to stay silent and let her continue. "I activated the base's defences. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please!"

Not before I ask a couple questions: "We're looking for a turian named Saren Arterius. Do you know of him?"

"My mother, Benezia, mentioned him."

"That would be Matriarch Benezia," Garrus asked.

"That's right."

"How did they know each other?" Garrus continued, his C-Sec training taking over. Qualms about C-Sec aside, Garrus seemed to be fully in his element, so I decided to let someone else do all the talking for a change.

"They are investors in the same company: Binary Helix. They met at some function or other, many years ago. From what Mother said, he sounds rather cold and grim."

Now Garrus asked the big question: "We believe your mother is working for Saren. What can you tell us about that?"

"Working _for _Saren?" She looked surprised. "I did not know that. But I have not spoken to her in years. It is hard to keep in contact when you are constantly moving between sites." She paused. "I am sorry, I realize you must have many questions, but could you please get me out of here?"

"We'll find some way to help you," I promised. "We just need to find some way past the barrier curtain."

Liara looked relieved. "There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defences cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here.

"Be careful," she warned. "There is a krogan with the geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier."

"We'll keep our eyes open. Hang in there," I said.

Looking around, I saw another set of ramps leading down to the bottom of the cavern. It seemed like as good a place as any to start our search.

We had only taken a few steps when our sensors cut out and gunfire bounced off our shields. Ducking down, I grabbed my pistol. It looked like we had some more company. One shock... no, two shock troopers. A rocket trooper. And a sniper or one of those hoppers, judging from the havoc it was wreaking on our sensors.

While we had the high ground, they had a rocket launcher. And possibly a sniper rifle. We wouldn't win this battle if we all stayed up here and took pot-shots from a distance. Nope, as much as I hated it, we'd stand a better chance if we got up close and personal.

Though that didn't mean we had to abandon the high ground altogether. "Kaidan, take Ashley and Wrex and charge those geth. Garrus, you and I are on sniper duty. Tali, see if you can provide tech support from up here."

I suppose I could say that I wanted to shake up the teams a bit, give everyone a taste for working with different people. In truth, I just wanted to stay away from the action for once. **(2)**

Whether it was thanks to those instincts or some tactical fluke, my plan worked perfectly. Garrus took out the rocket trooper's shields with one shot, allowing me to drill a hole right through its flashlight head. Tali knocked out the shields of both shock troopers, who had the misfortune of standing close to each other, which made things very easy for Kaidan and Ashley. Satisfied that everything was under control, Wrex charged ahead to deal with the last geth. I couldn't see what happened, but I heard a distinct crunching sound, followed by a deep laugh.

I motioned for Garrus and Tali to follow me, and we headed to the ground. Kaidan nodded to me when we arrived. "We're clear, Commander," he reported.

"Good," I responded. "Link up with Wrex and search the right side of the cavern. We'll take the left."

"On it," he said. "Ash, with me."

"Right behind you, LT."

It took us about forty minutes to search the cavern. I found a couple lockers filled with ammo blocks, weapons mods, and a few weapons to slot them into. Or sell for creds. I also found the crumpled remains of a geth sniper, its chest plating completely caved in. Death by krogan, I guess.

More importantly, I found a large mining laser. Tapping the controls, I found it was still operational. Command functions were locked out, though, but it seemed pretty easy to crack. I radioed my discovery to Kaidan and the others, and told them to meet us.

By the time they arrived, I'd managed to get the laser working. With a roar, the laser blasted into the ground. It was only active for a minute before the power cell gave out, but that was enough. Peering through all the dust that had been stirred up, we could see the laser had cut through the ground and into some kind of artificial chamber.

Taking a gamble, I hopped down. It looked like the chamber was a short passageway. There was a control panel of some sort at the end. I jogged over and examined it. To my surprise, I recognized the configuration as a standard holographic interface for an elevator system. I guess some things haven't changed, even after fifty thousand years or so.

I relayed my discovery to the squad and told them to join me, activating the controls as soon as they arrived. The platform hummed and rose to another level. Like the previous level, it consisted of a small passageway. It also had a console, a barrier curtain, and a floating asari.

Liara turned her head as we approached. Apparently, the security device only restricted movement from the neck down. "How... how did you get in here?" she asked, bewildered. "I didn't think there was any way past the barrier."

I gestured back towards the elevator platform, and then mentally slapped myself as I realized her peripheral vision probably didn't extend that far. "We blasted through with the mining laser."

"Of course. Yes. That makes sense. Please... get me out of here before those geth show up. That console over there should shut down the containment field."

I walked over to the console and activated the holographic interface. Again, I quickly managed to figure out the controls. It was just like every other operating software I'd learned since school. Were the Protheans really so good that they had made the perfect OS? One that no one had bested in the last...

I shook my head. Time to ponder such questions later. Tapping the appropriate controls, I turned just in time to see Liara land on the ground.

"Any idea how we get out of this place?" Wrex asked. He had a point. With the gaps in the catwalks, there was no way we'd be able to get back up.

"That elevator back there should take us out of here," Liara answered. "Come on!"

As we walked, I filled Liara in on the rest of the events that had brought us to Therum. To say she was shocked might be an understatement.

"I—I still can't believe all this," Liara said in a dazed voice. "Why would the geth come after me? Do you think my mother is involved?"

"Saren's looking for the Conduit. You're a Prothean expert," Kaidan pointed out. "It's logical to assume he wants you to help him find it."

"The Conduit? But I don't—"

Liara broke off as a tremor shook the cavern. Dust and pebbles started to tumble from above, raining down over us.

"What the hell was that?" Ashley asked tensely.

"These ruins are not stable," Liara answered. "That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event."

Great.

Liara moved over to the elevator panel and activated the controls. "We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in."

I opened a channel to the Normandy. "Joker! Lock in on our signal for immediate evac. On the double, mister!"

"Roger that, Commander. ETA: eight minutes."

"It's going to be tight," Garrus muttered.

The elevator ride seemed faster than anything else I'd seen. Or maybe I was distracted by the thought of impending doom. It didn't take long before we emerged in a large round chamber. There was only one passageway leading from it, blocked by another barrier curtain, four geth and a krogan.

"Wrex, Tali, you're with me again," I said, my voice remarkably calm given the circumstances. "Ashley, Garrus, follow Kaidan and stay close to Liara."

Before they could respond, the other krogan spoke. "Surrender," he ordered. "Or don't. That would be more fun."

"In case you didn't notice, this place is falling apart," I replied mildly.

The krogan grinned. "Exhilarating, isn't it? Hand the doctor over."

"Whatever it is you want, you're not getting it from me," Liara snapped.

"She'll stay with us, thanks," I said. Just in case the krogan didn't understand her.

Unfortunately, he understood, but wouldn't take no for an answer. "Not an option," he shook his head. "Saren wants her. And he always gets what he wants." He turned to his geth goons. "Kill them. Spare the asari if you can. If not," he shrugged, "doesn't matter."

So much for giving Saren what he wanted. The ex-Spectre really ought to look into his hiring practices.

"Kaidan, get Liara to the back of the room!" I ordered. "Everyone, weapons free! Take out the geth first!"

That last order was given for a reason. Experience, especially the recent ones, had proven how krogan could soak up a ridiculous amount of damage. Spending time in an attempt to take this krogan out would give the rest of the geth ample opportunity to shoot at us. In this case, it was better to take out the small fry.

I decided to start with the small fry packing the rocket launcher. I charged at the rocket trooper, noting with some dismay how often I'd been doing that lately. Clearly, my attempts to listen to my once-keen sense of self-preservation needed more work.

It didn't help that it felt damn good to knock the geth over on its synthetic ass and shoot it at point-blank range.

"Nice," Wrex complimented, shooting at a shock trooper with his shotgun. Tali didn't say anything, choosing to throw a tech mine at that trooper to disable its shields, which allowed Wrex to finish the job with one shot.

"Commander, look out," Kaidan yelled. I turned around, just in time to see the krogan charging at me. Remembering what Wrex said about krogan in Chora's Den, and the fate of the geth sniper back in the cavern, I did the only sensible thing: I ran like hell.

I managed to avoid getting crushed into the wall. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite fast enough to avoid him entirely, as he managed to clip my shoulder. Thrown off-balance, I tumbled to the ground.

I rolled onto my back and pointed my pistol at the krogan. There was no way I could get onto my feet and start running in time. Maybe the others could save my ass, but, if not, at least I could fire off a shot or two. The krogan turned around, took one step forward...

...and rose into the air, limbs flailing madly. I jerked my head around in confusion, and saw Liara, arm extended, body wreathed in biotic energy. I guess she could hold her own after all. Good to know.

Glancing around, I saw that the other geth had been taken out. The rest of my squad moved to join me, followed by Liara.

"Commander, you okay?" Kaidan asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for the heads-up." I turned to Liara. "And thank _you_ for the assist."

"We really shouldn't just leave him like that," Wrex said, lifting his shotgun. The rest of us followed suit. It was the oddest game of piñata I'd ever played, but damn if it didn't feel good.

Leaving the still-floating but certainly dead krogan behind, we moved to the barrier curtain. It looked like... I squinted. It looked like it was _flickering_.

Abruptly, it vanished. Another tremor shook the room, hinting at the cause of the curtain's disappearance and reminding us what we were originally trying to do.

We all started running at once. The passageway opened up into the cavern we'd originally entered, linking up with another catwalk... I couldn't believe my luck. It looked like it would connect with the mining shaft that connected with the mine entrance!

Doing a quick head-count, I realized that Liara must have fallen behind, and turned about. My eyes landed on Liara, then moved to the catwalk behind her. Just to see a couple boulders plummet down, ripping right through the catwalk like it wasn't even there.

"Move, move, MOVE!" I yelled, reaching to grab Liara and yank her ahead of me. Not needing any more encouragement, everyone broke out into a sprint.

I pumped my arms and legs until I thought they'd fall off. My heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it was going to explode. Rocks and boulders were falling all around us, and the tremor had grown from an intermittent tremble to a constant rattle.

Somehow, we made it out of the mine. Judging by the sudden rush of debris, it looked like we'd made it out just before the whole thing collapsed. Relieved, both by our escape from being buried alive and the welcome sight of the Normandy descending in front of us, we slowed to a walk, panting and heaving.

I'd say the universe would have to try harder to bump me off, but it would probably take me seriously.

* * *

"Too close, Commander."

That was Joker. It had been about three hours since we stumbled back onto the Normandy, so relieved to be alive that no one complained about the length of time it took to complete the decontamination cycle. I had ordered the squad to take a long relaxing shower before drafting up an AAR, sending it to Joker (who would collect all the reports and send them off to Alliance brass), and meeting up in the comm room for a debriefing. Well, Kaidan and Ashley had to write an AAR. The others weren't part of the Alliance chain of command. I later learned that Liara spent the time walking around the ship while Wrex lurked in the garage. Garrus and Tali spent the time carefully extricating a geth rocket trooper from the left front wheel. One of the casualties from my unorthodox Mako technique, it had gotten caught in the wheel and dragged along for the last part of our journey. I figured the Alliance could figure out what to do with it.

Anyways, since I had given those orders as we were leaving the airlock, which was within spitting distance of the cockpit, I gathered that Joker had overheard, and knew when and where we'd be there.

"Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur," Joker continued. "The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference," he finished helpfully.

"We almost died out there and your pilot's making jokes?" Liara asked.

"Joker pulled our asses out of there," I shrugged. "I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes."

"I see," she said hesitantly. "It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander," she admitted. "But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or handed me off to Saren."

"Do you know what Saren wanted with you?" Kaidan asked. "Could it have something to do with the Conduit?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "I only know that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

I thought my ears were still ringing from the mine collapse. It sounded like she had said _fifty _years.

"How old are you, exactly?" I couldn't help but ask. Rude, I know, but maybe asari weren't as prickly about that question as humans were.

My hunch proved accurate. Either that, or she was really polite. "I hate to admit it," Liara said, embarrassed, "but I am only a hundred and six."

"Damn!" Ashley admired. "I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

"A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child," Liara responded. So I wasn't completely off after all. "That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

"I've got my own theory about why the Protheans disappeared," I said, my mind flashing back to Eden Prime and that wonderful beacon.

Liara smiled politely. "With all due respect, commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. As if someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues.

"But here is the incredible part," she continued, getting slightly more animated as she talked. "According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

"Where'd you come up with this theory," I asked curiously. "I thought you just said there wasn't any evidence."

"I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence over the past fifty years. Eventually, subtle patterns started to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is... difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more... a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research.

"But I know I am right. And eventually I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

"If the Protheans weren't the first, then who was?" I asked. This was getting interesting. If nothing else, the beacon's visions suggested at least part of her theory was accurate.

"I don't know," Liara admitted. "There is hardly any evidence on the Protheans, and even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory. But I know I am right! The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up; it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins remain.

"For example, the Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements—the mass relays and the Citadel—are based on the technology of those who came before them.

"And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines," I replied. "The Reapers."

"The—the Reapers? But I have never heard of—" Liara's confusion at this new theory was quickly supplanted by her curiosity. "How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on one of our colonies, Eden Prime, which was attacked by Saren and the geth. It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"Visions?" Liara said slowly. "Yes... that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder the geth attacked your colony. The chance to acquire a working beacon—even a badly damaged one—is worth almost any risk."

She turned to look at me directly. "But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear." No kidding.

"I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all," she marvelled. "A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander.

"Okay, this isn't helping us find Saren. _Or _the Conduit," Ashley interrupted impatiently.

"Of course. You are right. I am sorry," Liara apologized. "My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren."

Maybe not yet. But my mission was far from over. If we did turn up something, Liara's expertise might come in handy. In the meantime, keeping her around would make it harder for Saren to lay his mitts on her. I said as much, and she agreed. Wrex added that her biotics would come in handy when the fighting started again. Recalling her performance in the mine, I had to agree.

"Thank you, Commander," Liara said again. "I am very grate...whoa." She lifted a hand to prop her head up. "I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed."

Kaidan frowned. "When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you."

"It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans' true fate. I need some time to process all this," she replied. "Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished here, Commander?"

I nodded. "Crew, dismissed."

Joker's voice came over the intercom again, as the squad got up and left. "Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?"

Right. I had forgotten. Now that I was a Spectre, my AARs would go to them, too. "Patch them through, Joker," I replied. It wouldn't be the first time my superiors wanted to clarify a point or two. Or second-guess me from behind their desks.

"Setting up the link now, Commander." I turned to face the holo-projectors, which were stationed in front of the room's viewscreen. I had only been waiting for a minute before the projectors lit up and TPTB flickered to life.

"We've received your report, Commander," the asari councillor greeted me. "I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy."

"I _assume _you're taking the necessary security precautions?" the turian councillor asked pointedly.

Not sure whether he was questioning whether our security precautions were adequate or whether I was implementing them at all, I answered with the truth. In simple terms, just in case. "Liara's on our side. The geth were trying to kill her."

"Benezia would _never_ allow Saren to kill her daughter," the asari councillor spoke again. She seemed quite convinced.

"Maybe she doesn't know," the salarian councillor suggested.

"Or maybe we don't know her," the turian councillor said suspiciously. "We never expected she could become a traitor."

"At least the mission was a success," the salarian councillor tried to change the topic.

The turian councillor snorted. "Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?"

Absolutely. See, I wanted to run through a mine while it was collapsing all around me, so I deliberately fired the biggest laser I could find. "The geth were crawling all over those ruins," I said sharply. "We were lucky to make it out of there alive."

"Of course, Commander," the salarian councillor said soothingly. "The mission must always take priority."

"Good luck, Commander," the asari councillor concluded. "Remember: we are all counting on you."

Clearly, they were suffering from the collective delusion that I could save the day. Now _that _was funny. Still, I waited until the transmission cut out before chuckling to myself.

* * *

While this mission didn't provide any smoking guns, I considered this mission a success, never mind what a certain grouchy turian said otherwise. I pondered my next move. There were the other two leads Udina had provided. Mind you, they still seemed like wild-goose chases to me. And there were two more systems in the Artemis Tau cluster. Since I was already here anyways, I might as well check out them out first. If nothing else, I could do a quick survey and earn some more credits.

With that decision, I ordered Joker to head for the Sparta system. We had just entered when Joker called me over the radio.

"Message coming in. Patching it through."

"Commander Shepard, my name is Nassana Dantius," a woman spoke. "I have a job for you. I can't say any more in an unsecured communication. If you're interested in hearing my offer, meet me on the Citadel so we can discuss this in person. I'll be waiting in the diplomat's lounge on the Presidium."

Interesting. Another somebody who wanted me to do something for her. But this one had a sense of discretion, and enough class or influence to hobnob with the bigwig elites. This could be really good or really bad.

Okay, slight change of plan. Finish exploring this system, head back to the Citadel to listen to this request (and sell off the surplus weapons I'd acquired), and _then_ I'd follow up on one of Udina's leads. Oh, and there was Admiral Hackett's request/order to deal with a rogue VI, up close and personal. Maybe I should handle that before I reach the Citadel. Well, at least I wouldn't be bored.

To my delight, we found a few interesting things. Two of the planets had resources worth noting—a small deposit of plutonium and a large concentration of hydrogen, to be exact. The asteroid belt had some kind of bio-dome, still functioning after all this time, with a Prothean data disc embedded in a control console. I gave that to Liara to play with.

Just as we were about to leave, we picked up a distress signal from one of the planets: Edolus. We were the closest ship in the area, and my reputation would hardly stand for me to sit by and do nothing. Sighing, I radioed the squad and told them to gear up. I pretended to ignore the groans as they signed off to prepare themselves for the delights of riding in the Mako. Nothing I wasn't feeling myself, believe me. I also paged Dr. Chakwas and inquired as to Liara's status. Upon hearing she was fine and ready for duty, I told her to send Liara to meet us in the garage.

Once Liara arrived, I looked over her equipment. All she had was a Mark VIII Stiletto pistol, apparently to fend off any pirates or grave-robbers she might encounter on her archaeological expeditions. No other weapons, no hardsuit, nothing. Well, other than her strong command of biotics. Anyways, I gave her some of the weapons and equipment I'd acquired so far, giving thanks for my compulsive scrounging. I even managed to dust off a Mark VI Crisis hardsuit. That particular hardsuit was designed for humans, but, thankfully, it was compatible with asari physiology. And it would surely provide a lot more protection than her uniform.

Once the Normandy dropped us off, and we headed for the distress signal. It was coming from the middle of a large, flat depression of land, approximately 80 metres in diameter, right next to a burning vehicle. As we got closer, we ID'ed the vehicle as a Grizzly and the probable source of the distress signal: a transmitter of some sort. Once we got even closer, we saw bodies. A lot of bodies.

Suddenly, the Mako's sensors screamed as it detected a localized ground disturbance to the right. Glancing over, I saw a large light brown mass burst out of the ground. Its four mandibles opened up and it shrieked, just before it spit a glob of neon green acid at us.

"What the hell?" Ashley and Tali exclaimed in unison.

"Thresher maw," I said tersely. I'd seen them before, both from the comfort of my desk during OCS lectures, which I infinitely preferred, and a couple times up close and personal during my career. Thankfully, I'd stayed awake during the lectures, and knew how to handle them, or I would've been killed a long time ago. For once, I blessed the perils of our recent jaunt to Therum, as all the armatures and turrets we'd found there provided some excellent practise.

"Kaidan, Ashley, get on the weapons. You know the drill," I ordered, making a mental note to get the other squad members trained on the Mako as soon as possible.

The thresher maw was most accommodating, standing there and spitting acid at us rather than burrowing back underground and making us play any guessing games, so it's understandable that we brought it down after a few minutes. We waited for a few minutes, just in case any cousins to pop out. When none appeared, we cautiously crept out of the Mako to investigate the bodies.

They were human. Alliance marines, to be exact. "They must have been lured here by the beacon," Ashley realized.

Kaidan was busy interfacing with the Grizzly's computer. "Looks like they were under Admiral Kahoku's command. He'd want to know what happened here." I made a note to look up his contact details once we got back.

There was nothing else to do but get back in the Mako. Before we left, I had Ashley send a MAC round to blow up the transmitter. The thresher maw might be dead, but I didn't want to get dragged all the way back here just because some other doofus got lured in. **(3)**

After we got in the Mako, I did a quick 180 and headed in the opposite direction, rather than getting on the radio and calling the Normandy for a pickup.

"Sir," Kaidan was the first to break the silence. "Where are we going?"

"The Normandy picked up some additional features when we got into orbit, including some possible mineral deposits. I downloaded them into the Mako's map and figured we could check it out."

"Of course, sir," Kaidan responded.

Naturally, the closest deposit was at the top of a mountain. So I had to weave the Mako back and forth, zigzagging my way to the top. As I drove, I heard Liara whisper to Ashley "Is this sort of activity encouraged in the Alliance, Chief?" To which Ashley replied: "Not in Basic. Maybe in OCS. LT?"

"Not when I was there," Kaidan said.

"It doesn't seem so unusual to me," Tali commented. "In the Flotilla, we're always searching for resources, so we can stay as self-sufficient as possible."

Wrex had other concerns on his mind. "Shepard," he barked. "Are we there yet?"

"Yep," I replied, seeing the mineral deposit as I rounded a particularly large boulder. Parking the Mako, I hopped out to get a more thorough survey. The squad also took the opportunity to bail out and stretch.

Wrex was the last to get out, in part because he had to manoeuvre his bulk around the seats and out the hatch. "Whoever designed that piece of crap should be shot," he grumbled.

"Amen to that," Ashley agreed.

We hit two more mineral deposits and a crashed probe (that was carrying grenade and ammo upgrades for some bizarre reason) before I decided to call it a day. By that point, Wrex was offering his services at a discount and the others were at least considering that option.

* * *

Deciding to stay in Hackett's good graces, my next stop was Luna. Earth's moon.

Luna is pretty much what you saw in the vids: gray, lifeless and boring. At least the terrain provided plenty of possible drop zones. Joker was able to drop the Mako so close to the training ground, we got there in less than five minutes.

The training ground consisted of three compounds. Each with two turrets. Naturally. This time, Garrus and Wrex grabbed the weapon controls. Officially, because they had received a crash course between Edolus and Luna. Unofficially, because they wanted a chance to stretch their limbs, even if it meant they'd have an increased chance of bumping their heads against the roof when I inevitably and repeatedly hit the thrusters. They did a pretty good job, too. The shields did take a lot of damage, but that was mostly due to the challenge of dodging and jumping six rockets at once.

Once the turrets were destroyed, I picked a compound at random, we got out, and we went in.

The compounds are another example of how unoriginal the Citadel races are as a whole. If the compound is circular, and has a flat roof, it _always_ has the following layout: first passageway leads from the entrance to a small room, which probably has some lockers, crates and boxes—some of which you can hack. To the left is a door, with another passageway leading to a larger room. This room will inevitably be filled with haphazardly-arranged shipping crates, boxes and whatnot. If there's any action to be had, the majority will be in there. At the far end of the room is a T-shaped corridor, with each end opening up into a smaller room that'll likely have more supplies to loot, more enemies to shoot, or both. **(4)**

The Alliance training ground compounds were no exception. In this case, the room at each end of the T-shaped corridor had four computer cores. That meant we'd have to disable twenty-four computers. Someone clearly had an obsession for redundancy. Since Hackett had neglected to give me any shutdown protocols or specify exactly how he wanted me to "disable" the VI, I chose the simplest solution: venting my frustration on the computers with my pistol.

Anyways, the first compound was guarded by about half a dozen assault drones and some toxic gas dispensers that weren't very toxic. The second one had more drones and automatically raised kinetic barriers at each and every door when we started taking out the computers.

Those two compounds were so easy; we entered the third one thinking it would be a piece of cake.

The swarm of drones, many of whom were armed with rocket launchers, vaporized our complacency in a heartbeat.

We hurtled back into the first room. I lunged for the door and slapped the control panels. As the door obediently slid shut, I sagged to the door. Everyone was feeling the adrenaline rush. Even Wrex was impressed. "This compound may not be so boring, after all," he conceded.

The next few minutes were spent adding upgrade mods to our hardsuits. Medical exoskeletons, energized platings, shield interfaces. Anything that would keep us alive a few minutes longer.

It was while I was handing Liara a combat exoskeleton package that I noticed a small storage locker. It was tucked away between two large shipping crates, which was why I hadn't noticed it earlier. I hacked it open and stared. My eyes bulged.

It was like my prayers had been answered. Sure, there was a shotgun and a pistol, but the real treasure was the Mark IX Predator M armour, equipped with one of the best shield and tech/biotic protection packages out there. It was just sitting there, mine for the taking, without having to pay the exorbitant prices one would typically expect of an Armax Arsenal product.

I ducked behind a crate to change hardsuits, reflecting on how odd that felt. The last time I'd had to go shopping for clothes was back in school. Ever since I'd enlisted, the Alliance had handled all of my clothing requirements. Simple, basic, and immune to the constantly changing whims and fashions of the snooty bimbos with way too much time on their hands and nothing of value between their ears.

I indulged myself to admire the green-and-black camouflage pattern on my new hardsuit before stepping out. "Everyone ready?"

"Waiting on you," Kaidan said, with a completely straight face.

"In that case, here's the plan," I replied, laying out the thoughts I'd strung together while I was stuffing myself into my new hardsuit. "Ashley, Garrus, Liara—you're under Kaidan's command. Wrex and Tali; you're with me. Kaidan's team will soften up the drones with biotics; my team will disable their weapons and shields with tech mines. Once that's done, pick your target and fire at will. Concentrate on the rocket drones. It doesn't matter how many assault drones we take out if we get blown to smithereens."

"The effects of our biotics and tech mines will only last a short time, Commander," Liara pointed out. "What if they wear off before we are done?"

"Good question," I smiled. "In that case, we give 'em another dose. Kaidan's team will handle biotics, unless it looks like my team can't provide tech support for some reason." I looked at Wrex. "You'll have to do the same if Kaidan and Liara are otherwise occupied." He nodded.

"Everyone got that?" I received a chorus of acknowledgements. "Good. Check your gear. We move in one minute."

One minute proved to be more than enough time. I spent my time talking to Tali, establishing that she would drop their shields while I'd knock out their weapon systems. After an eternity, we were ready to go. "Opening the hatch in five..." I warned. "...four, three, two, one, GO!"

On "GO," I slapped the control panel, waited for the doors to slide open and threw my tech mine. Tali followed suit, while Liara pulled off some biotic trick or other. For a second, all I could see were several explosions of sparks, accompanied by a blinding haze of biotic energy. Then things cleared enough for me to visualize a target: a nice big rocket drone. Right in front of me.

I just raised my pistol, pointed it at the rocket drone and squeezed the trigger. Between shots, I was dimly aware that the rest of the squad had also opened fire. I kept a very close eye on "my" rocket drone, ready to jump out of the way should its weapons cool down. Thankfully, that didn't happen, and I moved over to fire at the next rocket drone, taking care to throw another tech mine. Just in case.

This seemed to go on for hours, though my hardsuit's chronometer indicated only a few minutes passed by. Eventually, the fact that we had destroyed all the rocket drones and had nothing more to handle than assault drones penetrated my head. I silently breathed a sigh of relief. This would make things much easier from here on out.

Once we mopped up the last of the drones, we headed for the computer core clusters, shooting out the kinetic barriers that were blocking our way. I recall wondering why the computer was bothering, since they could only take a couple shots, or one shotgun blast, before shorting out. Even the most basic hardsuit has stronger barriers than that.

As it turned out, I shouldn't have tempted fate like that. The first set of computers was destroyed without an issue. The second set, though, was guarded by drones. Some of whom had rockets. Apparently, the VI decided that it needed something more effective to protect itself.

The only upside to this most-unwelcome development was the fact that there were only three of them versus seven of us, and we'd just had some very useful practise on how to handle them. The drones, and the computers, were taken out quickly, much to my relief.

The only odd thing was the burst of white noise that blasted through our hardsuit comms, on every possible frequency, upon the destruction of the last computer core. My hardsuit computer converted it from an auditory screech to a series of ones and zeroes. It also helpfully decoded this binary code as a message that read "HELP." This seemed a bit worrisome, so I added it to my AAR before sending it off to the Alliance. Let the brass sort it out.

After taking care of that laborious piece of bureaucracy, I checked my vid-mail. To my delight, the vid-mail I was expecting had finally arrived. Time to do something a little more fun. That required another trip to the cockpit, to make use of the comm systems.

"Ah, I prefer gold to silver, Commander," Joker said upon seeing me. "For my medal. I figured you'd recommend me for one since I, uh, pulled your boots out of the fire."

Not to be outdone, I was quick to reply. "If we present you with a medal, you'll end up sitting on stage listening to politicians make speeches for a couple hours."

"Good point," Joker admitted. "They'd probably make me shave, too." He stroked his beard. "I spent seven weeks working on this baby. No medal's worth that. So, Commander, what brings you up here?"

"You'll see." I gave him a wink, reached over and set the comm to intra-ship mode. "Crew, this is Shepard," I started.

"Some of you may be aware of my tendency to perform mineralogical surveys during missions, both as an Alliance officer and as a Spectre. Some of you may also be aware that the Alliance Geological Service pays bounties to individuals or teams who conduct such surveys. It is my pleasure to inform you that these bounties will be divided equally amongst the crew."

I had to stop as the command deck, and likely the rest of the ship, broke out into cheers. When things died down, I continued. "Furthermore, just to keep things interesting, whenever we dock at a port, an extra bonus will be given to the watch or watches with the most exemplary performance ratings."

As expected, this second bit of news was met with a more enthusiastic response. Were it not for the fact that sound does not travel in the vacuum of space, I'd wager that we could be heard all the way to the Citadel. **(5)**

Speaking of which, now that I'd made everybody very, very happy, it was time to head back to the Citadel. Sell off some surplus gear (to line my pockets and fund this "extra bonus"), do a little window shopping and generally give myself (and the crew) some semblance of R&R before we had to jump into another hellhole.

Naturally, given my horrible luck, I was forced to settle for two out of three.

* * *

_(1): As readers are aware, the sensors were unable to distinguish enemies from non-combatants. Given that they could distinguish squad members from everyone else, though, Shepard's assumption is understandable._

_(2): Shepard neglects to add that, given the situation, there were tactical advantages in dividing the squad into tech/fire-support and close-quarters-assault teams._

_(3): Shepard is being a little disingenuous here. A perusal of his earlier personnel reports reveals a great deal of empathy for individuals caught up in events beyond their control, no doubt due to his own personal experiences, regardless of whatever disparaging remarks he might care to use._

_(4): From a logistical perspective, the repetitive and redundant construction made stocking supplies and repair much easier. From a tactical standpoint, this predictable layout gave a distinct advantage to any invading force. While this would normally be a problem, it naturally served as a benefit for this mission._

_(5): Given that Alliance soldiers are attracted to bars and similar establishments like moths are attracted to lights, it is understandable that the Normandy's crew quickly termed this bonus "Shepard's Round." _


	12. Personnel Report: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

_Editorial Note: This seems as good a time as any to present another one of Commander Shepard's personnel evaluations. Again, readers should note that these evaluations were conducted after his mission was complete, and thus covers a number of conversations, some of which have not occurred at this point in the logs._

_This personnel evaluation will examine Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, or Tali, as she is generally known._

**Personnel Evaluation—Tali'Zorah nar Rayya**

Tali's a lot more modest and mature than she gives herself credit for. Take the geth, for example. She isn't one to brag that, as a quarian, she knows more about them than the rest of us. In fact, she claimed that she can't really add much more than what we all already know. Heh. Turns out, she had a lot more to tell about their origins than she let on.

See, once upon a time, the quarians wanted a cheap labour force. So they built one: the geth. Yep, the geth were originally a way to avoid the horrors of honest work and unionization. Go figure.

Initially, the geth were as dumb as any VI. Over time, though, the quarians made more and more changes. Nothing that dramatically crossed the line from VI to AI, mind you. Just a few upgrades here and there that let them perform increasingly complex tasks more efficiently. At the time, they figured they still had enough control over the geth. Unfortunately, they underestimated just how effective their neural network was.

When Tali first explained it, I didn't quite get it. I'm not sure I get it now, but I have a better chance of not mangling it up, so here goes: the geth have a link between each other. It's not a hive mind in the truest sense of the word, since each geth retains a grasp of its own individual identity. But they do have a link, and they make use of it.

See, the geth have certain basic processes that they have to run and maintain on a continual basis. If a single geth is alone, those basic necessities consume all of the geth's processing capability, and it winds up looking pretty stupid. If there are two geth close together, they can split the basic processing between them, which frees up a bit of room for other tasks, like analysis, deduction and reasoning. Three geth together, more processing power freed up, and so on. In short, the more geth there are in any one area, the more they can perform advanced and complex tasks. **(1)**

Sentience apparently counts as one of those advanced and complex tasks. Hard to believe, given the calibre of the so-called sentients I've run across in my time, but apparently it's true. One day, a geth asked its quarian overseer some innocent questions. Nothing serious. Just stuff like "Who am I?" and "What is my purpose?"

Apparently, the quarians kinda freaked out at this point. See, it was okay to make dumb machines do all their grunt work. But if these machines could grasp concepts like self-identity, then they were actually smart and sentient—and the quarians were now guilty of enslaving another race.

The quarian powers that be jumped from that philosophical point to the conclusion that the geth would inevitably be hostile to organic life. So they launched a pre-emptive strike by sending a system-wide order to shut down all geth.

Oddly enough, the geth didn't appreciate that. Go figure. After a long war, in which billions of quarians died, the geth were victorious. The quarians had to flee their own homeworld in whatever ships they could scrounge up.

Where were the Citadel races in all this? Waiting for the worst, and feeling really pissed. See, there were laws in place that flat-out banned the development of artificial intelligence. Not only did the quarians ignore that, they created a new hostile race that could spell the end of organic life as they knew it. As punishment, the Council refused to aid the quarians. Furthermore, they stripped the quarians of their embassy after the quarians lost the war, effectively removing their status as a Citadel species and cutting them out of any say they might have in the politics that governed Citadel space. Rather than attack, though, the geth stayed behind the Perseus Veil for the next couple hundred years.

The way the quarians treated the geth was the only point of contention between Tali and me. Don't get me wrong: the geth are definitely a threat. And they've tried to riddle me with holes on more than one occasion, so they're definitely on my naughty list. But if you're sentient, and you know your race is being wiped out, would you just stand by and do nothing? Honestly?

Tali didn't see it that way. In her opinion, synthetics had nothing in common with organics, none of the basic drives or biological needs, no requirement to trade or interact with them, so the geth would've turned on them sooner or later. I don't really agree with that logic, but then, I didn't grow up under three hundred years of guilt over the fact that my race was driven from my homeworld and became galactic pariahs because we did exactly what we weren't supposed to. I don't know what that would do to my point of view.

I do know that Tali was honest enough to admit that the geth were a touchy subject amongst her people, to say the least, and apologized for being overly sensitive when our conversation started to get a little heated. Like I said, that was the only time that we actually disagreed on anything, and that was shortly after we first met. As I got to know her better, I learned how the exile impacted the quarians and their culture. For starters, it made them completely reliant on their fleet. If their ships ran out of fuel or broke down, the quarians would either be dead in the water or dead, literally. So, the quarians tried to make themselves as self-sufficient as possible. That explains why quarians were so damn handy around any piece of machinery, and why Tali was presumably drooling over the Normandy when she first came aboard. Still, they sometimes needed raw resources to build a new ship component or something. Things wear down sooner or later, after all. As a result, the quarians had to basically strip-mine whatever system they were in—even if it was already inhabited. They couldn't really afford to pick and choose where they go, even though it made them really popular with the locals.

Being forced to live on the move fostered strong bonds and the development of a rather refreshing culture. Things like loyalty, trust and cooperation were absolutely essential. After all, the quarians were barely scraping by as it was. If they started bickering amongst themselves, or throwing each other into suicide situations, they'd drive their race to extinction. They were perfectly fine with small living quarters and limited space. None of this "my house is bigger than your house" jockeying. Kinda reminds me of my quarters, actually. More importantly, they didn't really emphasize personal possessions. If something was useful to you, you could have it. If not, barter it for something you do need. If it's useless, get rid of it. **(2)**

Unfortunately, the quarians extended this policy towards criminals. They couldn't spare the time or space to hold someone who wasn't pulling their weight, so they jettisoned criminals on nearby worlds. Without asking first. Yeah, that also went over really well. 

It got to the point where systems would just flat-out give them goodies or resources in advance, with the unsaid implication that the quarians would go somewhere else. While the quarians did resent this blatant bribe, they weren't exactly in a position to refuse.

It was for all these reasons that the quarians placed such importance on their Pilgrimages. I don't know whether there was some similar rite of passage before the geth, but _this _rite of passage was important. And not just because it scored the quarians a few more minerals or was the equivalent of a driver's license. Tali eventually figured that out, too. I know that from a conversation I had on one of my many meanderings through the Normandy. Adams had pointed me over to Tali, mentioning that she seemed a little quiet, but he hadn't had the time to ask what was the matter. He was too busy cleaning up after some halfwit who didn't complete his maintenance duties properly, and let the engine coolant overflow.

"Oh. Hello, Shepard," she said dully, when I greeted her.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "Your ship is amazing, and your crew's been really great to me. Especially your chief engineer. But I just sort of... feel... out of place. The Normandy runs so smooth; it feels like we're not even moving. And the engines are so quiet. How do you sleep at night?"

"The silence wakes you up?"

"Back on the Flotilla, the last thing you want to hear is silence. It means an engine's died or an air filter's shut down. I guess you don't have to worry about that here, but old habits die hard."

Good point.

"But it's more than just the silence. This ship feels so empty; it's as if half the crew is missing. Back home, I couldn't wait to go on my Pilgrimage. I couldn't wait to get away from the crowds. Now that I'm out here, I kind of miss them."

"Sometimes we don't appreciate what we have until it's gone," I said softly. Like anonymity, for example.

"That's true," she said slowly. "I'm starting to wonder if that's what the Pilgrimage is really about. It's given me a whole new perspective on my people and our culture.

"You know, there's always a few who go on their Pilgrimages and never return. I always assumed something bad happened to them, but maybe they just wanted a different life."

"You do plan to return to the Migrant Fleet, right?" I asked. Last thing I needed was the headlines to say "First Human Spectre Press-gangs Quarian—Knows Nobody'll Care." **(3) **

"I could never abandon my people, Shepard," she replied seriously. "I will go back eventually. But we have to stop Saren first. Otherwise, I might not have a home to go back to."

At this point, I figured she needed some time to mull things over, so I said my farewells. I had some paperwork to tackle, anyways. But I pulled Adams aside and filled him in. Between the two of us, we agreed to keep an eye out, just in case Tali needed another sounding board.

She did get used to the quiet, in time. And any preoccupations with the Normandy, the mission, or the Pilgrimage never affected her performance on the many worlds we visited, though they were always on her mind, something that was made clear during one of our later conversations.

We had been chatting about the last mission, and Tali brought up her wish that one of these missions would have had something worth bringing back to the Flotilla. Now, I was aware that she'd rather not bring back any old piece of crap, and I said something to that effect. **(4)**

"Well, yes," Tali said, "it cannot just be some derelict ship my people can use for salvage. It has to be more than that. There's a lot expected of me."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's my father. He's the senior member of the Admiralty Board. He's one of only five people who can override the decisions of the Conclave for the good of the Migrant Fleet. My father is responsible for the lives of seventeen million people—our entire race is in his hands. And I'm his only child. "

Huh. So... no pressure or anything. "Does that make you some kind of 'heir to the quarian throne or something?'" I joked.

"No, it doesn't work that way. My father's position isn't hereditary. I'll probably never serve on the Admiralty Board myself. Officially, I'm just the same as any other citizen. But it doesn't work that way in practise. People have always treated me differently because of who my father is."

"You must get all kinds of special privileges," I commented, recalling everything that came my way, for better or for worse, because I was treated differently. Invites to all the parties, where I'd get bored out of my skull listening to rich civvies yapping. Orders to go on some mission where I was almost guaranteed to get whacked. Ugh.

"I probably had it easier than most people growing up," Tali admitted. "But it's not all good. People like my father have enemies. And they're not above using me to get to him."

Like Anderson said, politics is a dirty business. Maybe getting bored or shot wasn't so bad after all. "It must be tough on you," I said sympathetically.

Tali sighed. "My people place a high value on family and ancestry. There's an unspoken expectation that I'll live up to my father's example. _Everyone's _waiting for me to do something great on my Pilgrimage. Something that will forever change our lives for the better.

"If I don't, it's like I failed. And that reflects badly on both me _and _my father."

At this point, I reminded her that what she was doing on the Normandy was bigger than anything any quarian had every done before. I added a little embellishment and claimed that her work here could have galactic repercussions, not realizing how prophetic my words would prove to be.

Tali admitted that my argument had merit. However, that didn't really matter. Not to her people, anyways.

"You see," she explained, "we're a very insular society. The events beyond the Flotilla don't much matter to the average citizen. Our greatest dream is that one day, we'll return to our homeworld and drive out the geth. But even if we stop Saren, that's not going to happen. There's still millions of geth behind the Veil. Until they're gone, our exile will continue."

"What would you need to bring back to make everyone happy?" I asked curiously.

"Something that would help us better understand the geth," she answered. "They've changed _significantly _since the exile; they've continued to evolve."

Except the flashlight heads, I guessed. The more things change...

"We've tried our best to study them, but it's not easy. They're very reclusive. Until recently, they never ventured beyond the Veil. And all the geth we run into now are under Saren's control. We'd need to find geth operating on their own. Independently.

"But I don't want this to get in the way of our mission, Shepard," she finished quickly. "First, we stop Saren. Then, I'll worry about my own problems."

I suspect this sudden conclusion to our conversation had less to do with her problems and more to do with the subject of her father. She later confided in me that they weren't exactly close. He was so busy trying to safeguard the lives of his people that all other concerns kinda melted into the background, something that was exacerbated after the death of Tali's mother due to a viral outbreak. As a result, she held a great deal of respect for him, but couldn't honestly say she loved him. It speaks to her strength of character that she never displayed any major hate-on for him, or any pathological desire to please him (at the very least, she hid it very well), but didn't want to bring back anything that would make him lose face. Still, it may provide another reason why she got along so well with Adams, and spent so much time in Engineering: he may have unwittingly provided the nurturing father that she never had.

In the end, I managed to help Tali complete her Pilgrimage. And we have Admiral Hackett and his bombardment of missions to thank for that.

It turned out that there were reports of geth establishing footholds in the Armstrong Nebula. Recon couldn't say whether this was for long-term surveillance or a prelude to an invasion, but Hackett wanted me to check it out.

I wound up doing a lot more than check it out. The geth were establishing outposts in every single system. They were pretty well fortified, too. In fact, they were so well defended that we had to do most of our fighting in the Mako. For once, no one complained.

At the last outpost, we found a geth terminal that was open. Maybe some geth had forgotten to log out after checking their version of vid-mail. Or porn. I never found out. All I know is there was a lot of data there that the geth had inputted. Figuring the Alliance might want to take a look, I did a data dump before resuming my scrounging for "free" supplies.

While she didn't say anything then, Tali did bring it up the next time she saw me in Engineering.

"Shepard, I need to talk to you," she began. "It's important."

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's about the data you took from those geth control nodes. The information you uploaded to Alliance Control? I want a copy of it."

The only surprising thing about that was the fact that she had waited until I dropped by Engineering. "You want to bring this data back to the Migrant Fleet," I stated.

"Those files have information that could be vital to our efforts to understand the geth. It could be the key to helping us reclaim our homeworld," she said excitedly.

"You think you can use this information to destroy your enemy? So soon?"

"Not right away," she admitted. "We will need to study it. It could take years. But it will give us new insight into how the geth have changed and evolved over the past centuries."

"Sure," I said. I'd already taken the liberty of copying the data onto an OSD for her, which I handed over.** (5)** "Here you go."

I'm sure Tali knew I wasn't a stickler for the rules. Still, it took a while before she found her voice again. "My people—I—owe you a great debt," she finally said. "One I can never repay. The only thing I can offer in return is what you already have: my solemn promise to stay with you until Saren and his geth armies are defeated."

"I never wanted anything more," I replied. For once, I didn't need to fake my sincerity.

"Thank you, Shepard," Tali said, before slotting the OSD into her omni-tool and pulling up the geth data.

Just goes to show: if you scratch someone's back, they might scratch yours. Even if their back is covered in an environmental suit.

* * *

_(1): Shepard's description of the geth indicates that he mistook a single geth infantry unit as a single geth individual. A common misunderstanding, as most people made the same assumption. Only the quarians may have known better and, given their history with the geth, they may have been reticent to offer information on the subject._

_(2): It's interesting that Shepard found the quarians' lack of emphasis on personal possessions admirable. While he did have a penchant for obsessively finding and hoarding possessions, he also was the first to hand out equipment to those he thought could best use them, and quickly sold anything he didn't need. Perhaps his feelings stem from the altruism behind that facet of quarian culture, and the perception that his own motivations were focused on his own long-term survival. _

_(3): I suspect Shepard was actually looking out for a fellow crew and squad member, mostly because he makes a special effort of saying otherwise. _

_(4): By tradition, the captain of whatever ship Tali, or any quarian returning from his or her Pilgrimage, would usually accept whatever "gift" was offered. However, there was a stigma attached to substandard offerings. _

_(5): Technically, Shepard should have sought approval from Alliance Command first. However, I suspect he would have followed through with that decision, even if he wasn't a Spectre. _


	13. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

My plan was simple: dock at the Citadel, sell off surplus equipment, browse the shops, report back to the individuals who were waiting to hear from me, and leave. Nice, simple, and quiet.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to find my plan fall to pieces from the get-go.

It started right after we docked. We had barely taken a dozen steps from the airlock when the squad and I ran into an admiral. One who was clearly waiting for us.

"Atten-HUT!" Kaidan called out, as he, Ashley and I snapped to attention. The non-Alliance members straightened up as well, more out of politeness than any necessity to protocol.

"At ease," the admiral said. As we adopted the appropriate position, I couldn't help but wonder where I'd seen him before. He looked familiar.

"Rear Admiral Mikhailovitch," the admiral introduced himself. "Fifth Fleet."

Ah. Right. My original future boss, before this whole Spectre excrement hit the... well, you know.

"We weren't told to expect you, sir. I would have prepared a formal greeting," I replied.

"Spare me the pleasantries," Mikhailovitch said. "I command the 63rd Scout Flotilla. You and the Normandy were slated for my unit after shakedown. Then the Council got their paws... claws... tentacles... whatever. They got them on our ship. And you."

Territorial, much?

"I still serve the Alliance, sir," I said, playing the part of the earnest, loyal soldier. "As a Spectre, I can advance our interests to the Council."

Mikhailovitch snorted. "Hmmph. You still know what colour your blood is, Shepard?"

Why, yes, I replied inside my head. A nice healthy shade of red. Some say it's crimson or maroon, but I've always thought it was a nice shade of scarlet, myself.

"I don't begrudge the politicians' decision to throw you to the Council." Gee, thanks. That makes one of us. "It's an... opportunity. I _do _begrudge this overdesigned piece of tin, though."

Hey!

"The Normandy's a fine ship, sir," I responded, keeping any irritation out of my voice. "She's served us well so far." Hell, it already saved my ass once, so it's golden in my books.

"It's a gimmick, Commander," Mikhailovitch dismissed. "Useless in a stand-up fight. This... experiment diverted _billions _from our appropriations bills. For the same price, we could've had a heavy cruiser. But _no_, we had to make nice to the turians. Throw money at a co-developed boondoggle.

"I'm here to make an inspection," he continued, finally getting over whatever piss was added to his coffee. "Normandy is an Alliance warship. I intend to see she's up to snuff."

Technically, I could've decided to make use of my Spectre status to remove the Normandy outside the Alliance chain of command, thus putting her beyond his jurisdiction. While I was at it, I could've told him where to shove it. Thankfully, no one had pissed in _my _coffee. "We'd be honoured to show her to you, Admiral," I smiled.

He just looked at me suspiciously. "I'll just bet. Wait here," he ordered. "I won't be long."

As soon as the airlock shut behind him, I activated my helmet comm. "Joker, come in."

"Aw, Commander," Joker drawled. "You miss the dulcet tones of my voice already? I'm touched."

"Clearly," I replied. "Actually, I thought you could use your dulcet tones to inform the crew that there's a Rear Admiral Mikhailovitch waiting to do a surprise inspection as soon as he clears the airlock, and he definitely got up on the wrong side of the bunk."

"Hoo, boy," Joker said, instantly serious. We all knew what that meant. "Thanks for the heads-up, Commander. I'll pass the message along ASAP. Over and out."

"Commander," Liara asked quietly. "Is it common for Alliance superiors to perform such inspections without warning? Would it not be better if they gave advance notice so one could prepare a more comprehensive report?"

"The point of keeping inspections a surprise is so you can observe operations under normal conditions, and identify any areas that need improvement," I responded. "Sometimes, they're necessary, because people get sloppy. Other times, the inspectors are a little too focused on the rules, and not reality."

"I suspect all organizations risk that sort of thing," Garrus chimed in. "Internal Affairs at C-Sec were always on our back."

"Did they ever have any valid criticisms?" Kaidan asked curiously.

"On occasion," Garrus admitted. "They usually were more obsessed with protocol and procedure, though. Always seemed to find another way to pile on more red tape in triplicate. If you were unlucky, you could spend half your day completing paperwork. It's a wonder we ever got anything done."

We passed the time sharing stories about our own experiences with inspections. Tali was the only one who had positive things to say about them, though that was understandable. As Garrus put it, the quarian inspectors were actually interested in getting the job done, and nothing else.

Eventually, the airlock hissed open, and Mikhailovitch emerged. The sour look on his face hadn't budged one bit. "Commander, I'm not happy," were his opening words.

Seems to be a lot of that going around, I thought. Aloud, I simply said "I'm sorry to hear that, sir."

"Who designed that CIC?" he asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the Normandy. "Putting the commander aft of everyone else is inefficient. What if he needs to discuss with the operators towards the bow?"

"Modified turian style," I replied, mentally thanking all the obsessive research I had done earlier, when I was trying to find an "easy posting" to get away from the REMFs. "They prefer commanders looking over their subordinates, rather than in the middle of them. We wanted to see how effectively they can command with that setup." **(1)**

"Hmm. Reasonable goal," Mikhailovitch admitted. "But they should have studied that in a lab, rather than on a front-line warship."

Fair enough. The only way to test any new piece of tech is to throw it onto the battlefield and see how long it holds up, but it did seem rather dicey to have so much new tech in one place without any "traditional" backups. Before I could continue that train of thought, Mikhailovitch continued.

"I had to shake my head at that drive core. 120 billion credits of element zero to make this thing able to move without giving itself away. You realize we could make drive cores for _12 000 _fighters with that money? What good is it to hide for a few hours, anyways? _Useless!_"

"We can loiter in an enemy system and monitor traffic, or drop infiltration teams on enemy worlds," I pointed out. "The Normandy can be more effective than the salarian STG." **(2)**

"Maybe, maybe," he dismissed. "But that's not the job of a proper warship. We're supposed to find and kill enemy fleets, not count how many times their garrison go to the bathroom."

If only the latter were true. How much quieter my life would be.

"And we need to talk about your crew," Mikhailovitch went on.

Huh?

"Krogan?"

Oh.

"Asari?"

Yep.

"_Turians?_"

Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where he was going.

"What are you thinking, Commander? You can't allow alien nationals free access to Alliance equipment?"

Rather than look at the "alien nationals" behind me, who surely didn't suffer a collective case of deafness, I quickly cribbed something together from all those political speeches I'd had the misfortune of hearing time and time again. "Between Saren and the geth, we have enough enemies out there. Treating other species with suspicion and distrust won't win hearts and minds."

"That assumes the hearts and minds are worth winning. That hasn't been proven yet."

Did this guy have _any _sense of tact at all? Did he not see that those hearts and minds were _right there in front of him_? Or did the extra stars and stripes cut off the oxygen to his head? **(3)**

"You have anything else to say, Commander? Any other justifications for the state of this vessel?"

"I think the Normandy is a good ship, sir. Even if you disagree, you have to see that her joint construction and multiracial crew makes the Alliance look better." After all, impressions are all that seem to matter, sometimes.

"Your job is to look good, Commander," Mikhailovitch replied. "The Alliance Navy's is to win wars." He sighed. "I'm not convinced Normandy isn't a waste of taxpayer money, but I am convinced that you believe otherwise, and that you'll use it to the best of your abilities.

"I'll be submitting a report to the Joint Military Council. It will not be as... negative as I had planned.

"Good hunting, Commander Shepard," he concluded, standing to attention and saluting us. "Make us proud."

He waited long enough for Kaidan, Ashley and I to reciprocate, and then he left. By the elevator. Which meant we had to wait several minutes for the elevator car to drop him off and return for us.

"That was... impressive, Shepard," Garrus said while we waited. "I honestly don't know how you were able to shrug off all his criticisms."

"I ground my teeth a lot," I admitted.

* * *

Soon enough, it was our turn to partake in that delightful activity known as "riding in the elevator." While most of us fidgeted around, Wrex found his own way to amuse himself and pass the time. "Hey, Kaidan," he rumbled. "Who would win in a fight between you and Shepard?"

Kaidan looked at him, startled. "What?" He glanced at me, then turned away and stared intently at the wall. "Commander Shepard is my commanding officer," he said firmly. "I can't imagine us _ever _having to fight."

"You can't?" Wrex asked sharply. "_That's _why Shepard's your superior officer. And _that's_ why Shepard would win."

Ashley exchanged a sympathetic look at Kaidan, before turning and glaring at Wrex. Thankfully, the elevator doors opened before any more words could be exchanged.

"Commander Shepard?"

Oh, for crying out loud. We hadn't even left the elevator yet!

It was a woman with a dark skin tone. More Middle Eastern than African, not that it really mattered. **(4)** Of greater concern to me was the hovering camera drone behind her shoulder. Great. _Another_ damn reporter. "Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani, Westerlund News," she introduced herself, confirming my fears. "Would you answer a few questions for our viewers?"

"What sort of questions?" I asked. Westerlund News wasn't exactly known for their objective, or rational, for that matter, coverage of stories.

"People back home have heard a lot of wild stories about you. I can give you the chance to set the record straight. What do you say?"

I plastered on Hero Smile #1 (Humanity's Best, Bravest and Brightest). "So long as you understand that I may not be able to answer all questions."

"I'm sure our viewers will understand," she smiled back. Tapping her omni-tool, she activated the camera drone, which lowered a few centimetres and shone a painfully bright light on me. Somehow, I managed to look at the reporter without squinting.

"Humans have been trying to get the respect of the galactic community for twenty-six years," the reporter began. "With that in mind, what are your feelings on being the first human Spectre?"

"The Spectres represent the best of every species in the galaxy. To be asked to join them is an honour," I replied smoothly.

"Some have said your appointment is the Council 'throwing humanity a bone.' Have you encountered any situations where the Citadel asked you to place its needs before the needs of Earth?"

So far, easy to answer, though I was started to detect a trend. "The Council is concerned with the needs of the whole galactic community. We're part of that community now. Our needs are on their agenda, but we're one of many."

"You really do believe that, don't you?" Al-Jilani asked, sounding somewhat surprised. "You've been given command of an advanced human warship for your mission," she went on. "Is there anything you'd like to say about it?"

"Actually, the Normandy was co-designed by turian and human engineers. Its design incorporates many innovations. All of which are classified, I'm afraid."

"So the turians have knowledge of the Normandy that is being kept secret from the Alliance public?" Al-Jilani said, sounding shocked. "Do you think it was appropriate to hand Earth's most advanced warship over to the Council?"

So far, her increasingly loaded questions were living down to the reputation I'd expected. I allowed an eyebrow to rise slightly. "I wasn't aware it had been 'handed over' to anyone," I said mildly. "I'm in command, and last I checked, I'm human."

"Human, yes. But you do work for the Citadel now, Commander." She paused for a split second. Not long enough to be noticeable by the camera, but enough for me to take the bait if I was foolish enough. Unfortunately for her, I'd been doing this sort of crap for years now.

"One last question, Commander," she finally said, concealing her disappointment with a facility that would have fooled anyone else. "Rumours back home say you're tracking a 'rogue Spectre' named Saren. Do you have any comment on that?"

My smile grew even wider. "I'm afraid I can't comment on whatever my current assignment may or may not be," I replied, making a mental note to report this surprise interview to Alliance brass. Freedom of the press is great and all, but someone had to determine how my assignment got leaked. To stuff it in a folder and collect the virtual equivalent of dust, if nothing else.

"Don't worry. We'll find out," Al-Jilani said smoothly. "The eyes on Earth are on you. Don't let us down."

I ignored those words, as well as her farewell. As far as I was concerned, I'd been conning 'the eyes of Earth' into thinking I was a hero since I got out of OCS. If they couldn't figure it out then, when my assignments were more official, they probably wouldn't be able to put the pieces together now.

* * *

Now that that was out of the way, I could go to Dr. Michel, over in the med clinic, and sell my surplus weapons to her.

I should probably explain that. **(5)**

After the whole situation with Fist got resolved, I had a chance to chat with the good doctor. Apparently, her father was a medic with the Alliance. While she chose to continue the family tradition, she opted for a more private practise, as "patching up soldiers wasn't [her] idea of fun." Smart. Explains why she's a doc and I'm just a grunt with one hell of a death wish.

Anyways, the next time I dropped by, she was having a rather tense conversation with someone over the comm. Some blackmailer who was threatening to blab about how she used to give away free medical supplies, to patients who couldn't afford medical insurance at her old job, unless she diverted a few packages here and there. Being the sap for a sob story that I am, I offered to take care of things for her. 

Nothing violent, as it turned out. The blackmailer was a middleman for a guy named Banes. Middle-krogan, I should say, though that krogan turned out to be a pushover. Hard to imagine, given that the guy probably outweighed me by a factor or so, but it's true. All I did was point out that if he spilled the beans, the clinic would get shut down, and then _no one _would get medical treatment. The guy folded in a heartbeat, and agreed to leave her alone. Easiest negotiation I ever did.

When I reported the good news to Dr. Michel, she recognized the name. Armistan Banes, someone she once knew. Worked for the Alliance. Name didn't ring a bell, though. I meant to follow up on that, but it slipped my mind.

Anyways, in gratitude for resolving yet another crisis for her, she offered to extend discounts on any medical supplies or equipment I might want to buy from her, or pay top dollar for any equipment I might want to sell her.

That last bit requires some more explanation, doesn't it? Okay, here goes: it seems that, once upon a time, a client paid her in barter. Specifically, he gave her a shotgun and an ammo block in payment for patching him up after an attempted heist went really, really sour.

Seeing how she had no use for that, she called up C-Sec. By a stroke of luck, she reached someone with a few neurons to rub together, who quickly set up an arrangement: she continues accepting weapons and other odd sources of payment, and a C-Sec representative would buy them off her. As a result, she'd get money to fund her clinic, while C-Sec would get weapons off the proverbial streets. Everyone's happy.

On occasion, she extended that arrangement to actually buying weapons off of customers, in which case C-Sec would reimburse her. As a reward for helping her out (twice), I was added to that select list. To my delight, I discovered that she offered better deals than C-Sec Requisitions or any of the merchants on the Citadel. Consequently, she quickly became my preferred buyer of surplus weapons, equipments, mods, and so forth.

When I entered the clinic, she greeted me with a smile, and informed me that she wasn't in any trouble this time. After exchanging a joke or two, we got down to business. One of the more unusual business transactions I've done, but remarkably pleasant, nonetheless.

Next stop: the embassy. Officially, in case ol' Udina wanted to ask any questions. Unofficially, because I wanted to see how Captain Anderson was doing. Plus, I had to meet that Dantius lady who contacted me about a job offer, and she was right next door.

I quickly found out Udina hadn't changed one bit. "I heard what happened out in the Artemis Tau cluster," he greeted me. "The Council wasn't happy about the destruction of those Prothean ruins."

"This isn't a game, Ambassador," Anderson cried out angrily. "Shepard's out there trying to stop Saren from destroying the galaxy."

"I know, I know," Udina replied. To my surprise, he sounded almost... apologetic for his earlier remarks. "Just try to be a little more careful," he pleaded. "The Council's watching you. And we _all _get judged on how _you _behave."

"Everything all right," I asked Anderson, once Udina had walked away, without the usual farewell, as was his wont.

Anderson sighed. "I think I'm starting to understand why the ambassador acts the way he does."

"You mean there's a reason for him to be so bitc—er, sorry, Captain," Ashley corrected herself, blushing.

"I've thought the same thing myself, Chief," Anderson chuckled. "And the answer to your question is 'yes.' Humans don't seem to understand the purpose of the embassy."

"Sir?" I asked.

"The embassy and its ambassador are primarily intended to advance friendly relations with the galactic community, as well as promote economic, cultural and scientific relations," he explained. "Most humans, though, think it's here as some kind of information booth. And some of the requests for information that they have are, well, rather odd."

"Such as," Kaidan asked curiously.

"Well, let's take today, for example," Anderson replied. "So far, we've received forty people asking about starship departure times, over a hundred people wanting to know where some tourist spot on the Citadel was, sixty-seven people who wanted to know the time and ten requests to use our computers to log on the extranet. Oh, and there was that delightful couple who wanted a recipe for tiramisu."

"You're kidding," Ashley exclaimed. "Sir," she quickly added.

"I wish I wasn't," Anderson shook his head ruefully. "What makes it worse is that we're trying to set up negotiations between the Alliance and the salarians. The bureaucracy is bewildering to make out, to say the least, and that's _before_ all these distractions."

"Accomodations for all parties concerned, verified in triplicate with forms CTO-1300, CTO-1968 and CTO-1989, submitted to Citadel Operations between 0900 and 1700 hours. Menu orders, filed to catering, Citadel Operations and Citadel Medical Services, all in triplicate. Forms required are CTO-1995, CMD-0891 to CMD-0899. Submissions to the first two between 0900 and 1700 hours, the last submitted any time. Rooms for the negotiations, filed to Citadel Operations, Citadel Medical Services and C-Sec..."

At this point, we had all turned and stared at Garrus, who was reciting all this information. He stopped and looked back at us. "Please don't ask me to recite all the necessary forms," he said. "Or ask me to continue."

Anderson was the first to recover. "I... take it you've had to do this before?"

"At one point, _everything_ had to be sent to C-Sec," Garrus explained. "It was a nightmare."

"So... circumstances changed?" Liara asked.

"Yes. After C-Sec failed to avert the assassination of an asari politician's daughter because every spare officer was busy processing application forms for the annual adult entertainment exposition."

"You're kidding!" Ashley repeated. She stared at Garrus, who had a look of exasperation on his face. "Oh, Lord."

"How the hell did your people manage to defeat us?" Wrex marvelled.

"It's times like those that make me ask that very question," Garrus sighed.

"Anyways," Anderson said, trying to bring us back on track, "the ambassador and I had a... well, a difference of opinion on how to cut through the red tape."

"Hence the exchange of words earlier," I deduced.

Anderson nodded. "It's been a frustrating day."

"Well, I hate to throw another monkey wrench in the works, but I've got a question for you," I said. It had just occurred to me that he might be able to answer a few questions.

"As long as you don't ask me where the Relay Monument is or how to make tiramisu, I'm all yours," Anderson laughed.

"Do you know a man named Armistan Banes?" was my first question. The response was startlingly immediate.

"Where did you hear that name?" Anderson demanded. "Never mind," he immediately added. "I don't want to know.

"Banes is dead. Has been for quite some time."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? The people I spoke to were quite convinced he was still alive."

"It isn't common knowledge," Anderson confessed. "Military's keeping it under wraps. Banes was working on some top-level stuff. Things I wasn't even aware of until Udina raised my security clearance. One day, he winds up dead on a drifting scout ship. Everyone suspects foul play, but it was never officially investigated."

"What do you know about the scout ship?" I asked.

"I don't know much about it," Anderson admitted. "You should talk to Admiral Kahoku. One of his crews found it."

And that brought up my second question. "We actually wanted to talk to him anyways. Where can we find him?"

"Last I heard, he was up in the Citadel Tower, trying to get an audience with the Council," Anderson replied. "Sounds like you can kill two birds with one stone. Is there anything else, Commander?"

"No, that's about it," I replied. "Thanks for the info."

"You're welcome," Anderson replied. "I'll be here if you need anything else. Good luck." **(6)**

* * *

Before we paid Admiral Kahoku a visit, I thought I'd drop by the diplomatic lounge and find this Dantius character.

The bartender in the lounge pointed her out to us. An asari, dressed in an expensive looking dress. Or robes. Hard to say, I'm no fashion guru.

Dantius saw us approach, and turned to face us. "Commander Shepard," she greeted me. "My name is Nassana Dantius. I see you got my message."

"It sounded like you needed some help," I said.

"I do," she confirmed. "My sister Dahlia is a crewman on a cargo vessel operating out beyond the fringes of the Traverse. Her ship was attracted by privateers. There were no reported survivors."

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said automatically.

"This is where it gets complicated. Last week, I received a message with her voice on it. Dahlia is alive! The rest of the crew was killed, but she was taken prisoner. The slavers demanded a huge ransom from me in exchange for returning her unharmed."

This sounded rather... odd. "Why didn't the raiders kill Dahlia along with everyone else?" I asked.

Dantius shrugged. "My sister probably told them who she was. My family is very wealthy, Shepard. They must have realized she was worth more to them alive."

"So... you want me to go and deliver the money?" I'm the first to want all the details, but I wasn't exactly sure what she wanted me to do.

"It's too late," she said miserably. "I transferred the funds to the account they specified. Only, they never released her. They haven't contacted me since."

And this is why you don't negotiate with criminals. Especially if you're a civvie. Road to hell, good intentions, and so forth.

Dantius must have seen the look on my face. Disappointing, really—I'm usually better at keeping things under wraps. "I know. I've made a terrible mistake. I am a diplomatic emissary! By law, I am supposed to report any attempted extortion to C-Sec immediately. But I was afraid for Dahlia, so I just paid the ransom. Now she is still missing, and if anyone finds out what I did, I could end up in jail!"

"You want me to find her and bring her back?" I asked.

To my surprise, she shook her head. "You only need to bring her back. I've already found her for you. I tracked the ransom payment through several accounts. Eventually it led to a small mercenary band operating out of the Artemis Tau cluster."

Interesting.

"I need you to go the merc base, take them out, and bring my sister back. You shall be well rewarded."

"Why me? Why not hire someone else out?" I probed.

"I do not want to take chances with my sister's life. I need a Spectre. Besides, you operate outside official channels. My superiors cannot find out I never reported the ransom in the first place."

"How'd you find out who was behind the ransom?" This point kept sticking with me.

"I have resources," she replied simply. "Contacts and credits can go a long way, especially if you are willing to bend the rules. I already broke the law when I paid the ransom," she added wryly. "This couldn't make things any worse."

"Anything you can tell me about the mercs who have your sister?" I probed.

Dantius shrugged. "Pretty much what you'd expect: rough, dangerous and well-armed. Nothing a Spectre cannot handle, though."

"Don't worry. I'll bring your sister back." I smiled at her reassuringly.

She smiled back. "Thank you, Shepard. I knew you were the right man for the job."

* * *

My squad talked about this latest request as we made our way up the elevator to the Citadel Tower.

"You are going to help find Ms. Dantius's sister, are you not?" Liara asked.

"Of course he will," Ashley cried out. "He's gotta." Seeing the look Kaidan gave her, she turned to me. "I'm sorry, sir. I know it's not my call, but, her sister needs our help. If one of _my _sisters was in trouble, I'd drop everything in a heartbeat to help."

"This doesn't feel right," Garrus said thoughtfully. "The kidnapping part makes sense. The ransom part, I can understand. But how did she know so much about the whereabouts of those mercs?"

"Like she said, she used her contacts and resources to track them down," Tali pointed out. "If you're good enough, you can back trace anything."

"And as a diplomatic emissary, she'd have both the means to do so and the motivation to keep things quiet," Kaidan added. "This is a political scandal, at best. More likely a disaster."

"I'm with 'C-Sec' on this one," Wrex disagreed, nodding his head towards Garrus. "The asari can dress it up all she wants, but this smells more like a hit than a rescue op."

"There's only one way to find out," I concluded, as the elevator doors opened. "Thankfully, it's not too far out of our way."

Well, it wouldn't be too far out of our way once we actually _left _the Citadel. With every Tom, Dick and asari wanting a piece of me, I wasn't holding my breath.

It took a couple minutes of stair-climbing and searching, but we eventually found Admiral Kahoku. He was at a comm terminal, trying to reach someone, and failing miserably. He almost seemed relieved when he saw us approach. Maybe it was the hardsuits that screamed "I'll actually get something done today, pronto."

"Commander Shepard," he nodded. "Congratulations on getting into the Spectres."

"Word travels fast," I said dryly.

He gave a slight smile. "I was one of the officers Admiral Hackett asked to compile the initial list of candidates." He glanced back at the comm terminal, and then looked at me again. "Is there something you needed? I'm a little busy."

"I have some news about some missing marines that were under your command."

Admiral Kahoku wasn't deaf. "'Were?' What happened?"

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, Admiral," I admitted, scratching the back of my head. "Your men were killed by a thresher maw."

"A... a thresher maw?" Kahoku clearly couldn't believe his ears. "That's not..." The disbelief on his face turned to outrage. "...my men wouldn't just stumble into a thresher nest! Not the entire unit!"

"Somebody lured them there with an Alliance distress beacon," I explained. "Placed it perfectly so they'd land right beside the thresher nest."

"Damnit!" Kahoku swore. "I had a bad feeling about this ever since my team disappeared. An Alliance beacon used as bait, my entire unit wiped out, and nobody seems to know anything about it." His anger petered out as he saw I was still there. "Commander, I appreciate what you did. Now I need to do my part. The families of those marines deserve to know why they died."

I liked his sense of priorities, but I had to butt in first. "Before you go, Captain Anderson said you had information on a man named Armistan Banes."

"Not as much as I'd like to. One of my crews found him. Frozen stiff on board a derelict vessel. The unit you found? They were scouting the system we found Banes's ship in."

Hmm. Not much, but at least I could close the file, I thought. How little I knew...

"Anything you need from me?" I asked.

Kahoku shook his head. "Not right now, Shepard, but I'll let you know as soon as I find something out."

* * *

I managed to get some window shopping in. Still didn't buy anything—I could've, but I was saving up for the big-ticket items. Kinda surprised I managed to do _any _browsing, though, given the sheer number of people who needed help.

Bumped into that reporter, Emily Wong, who was wearing something a lot less revealing than the last time I saw her. She wanted me to help her run a story on overworked traffic control operators by planting a spy cam, so I spent a few minutes convincing her that would cause more harm than good. There was that salarian who was wondering if I wanted to make a few credits scanning keepers (no thanks, do you _know _how many there are? And they're scattered all over the goddamn Citadel!). Then I met that charming brother and pregnant sister who were debating (read: yelling) whether or not to undergo routine genetic therapy so the unborn kid wouldn't die of the same ailment as the now-deceased daddy, and needed some random stranger with no medical qualifications whatsoever to talk some sense into them. And there was that overly enthuasiastic civvie (what was his name? Cameron? Connor?) who'd accosted me for an autograph earlier. Now he wanted a vidpic. I hate creepy stalkers. Especially fans.

The only important one, as far as I'm concerned, sticks in my mind because it provided some insight into one Garrus Vakarian.

It probably would be a cliché to say it all started in a bar, but it's true. Specifically, it started in Flux. Now, for those of you who've never been to the Citadel, Flux is another club in the Wards. **(7)** It's like Chora's Den in that there's loud music and lots of neon lights. The difference is that Flux has a ton of gambling machines in the back and attracts people who just want a good time, while Chora's Den accepts clients who want to get piss-drunk, meet lowlifes for various illegal activities, or have nowhere else to go.

One of the waitresses there had a problem. It seemed her sister, Jenna had been recruited by C-Sec to work at Chora's Den as an undercover informant, and she was concerned that Jenna was going to get killed if she stayed there much longer. Proving that there's a sucker born every nanosecond, I offered to knock some sense into her.

Chora's Den hadn't changed much, even after we shot up the place last time. Still had the loud music. Still had asari dancers. Still had Harkin and all those other drunkards drowning their sorrows about how life was just so damn unfair.

We found Jenna, and she was as pigheaded as she'd been made out to be. Insisted that she "knew what [she] was doing" and "she could take care of herself." About the only intelligent thing she said was that she had to get back to work because she "wasn't paid to stand around and look pretty."

I figured that was it. Message passed along, I did my best, not my concern if she got shot for her trouble.

Then some drunken turian bumped into me on the way out. Or, at least, he seemed drunk until he quietly whispered:

"If you want answers about Jenna, come meet me at C-Sec Headquarters."

I jerked my head to look at him. "What did you say," I asked.

He responded by giving me a firm shove. "Push off," he said a bit too loudly. "I never did nothing to you. Damn newcomers," he added, stumbling off. "Think they own the place."

"What was that?" Ashley asked, staring distastefully after the drunken turian.

"Dunno," I shrugged. "Guess we have to head over to C-Sec and find out."

Garrus recognized him, but didn't say anything until we were out of Chora's Den. "That was Chellick," he said in his quiet voice. "He's with C-Sec."

"You mean an informant?" Ashley said.

"No. Chellick's one of the most respected detectives in C-Sec," Garrus answered. "He specializes in running undercover ops and handling informants."

"Is it common for such officers to supervise their informants in person," Liara asked.

He shook his head. "Actually, face-to-face encounters are rare, especially after the handler-informant relationship has been established. Chellick probably showed up because he heard we were nosing around in his investigation, and wanted to head us off before we caused any damage."

Garrus's analysis proved to be spot-on. The first thing Chellick said, after introducing himself and asking us to come into his office was a polite "No offense, Commander, but _what the hell were you thinking_?"

"Excuse me?" I responded.

"You could have blown Jenna's cover," Chellick said angrily.

"We were _trying _to help her," Ashley snapped back.

"I gathered that," Chellick replied, seeming to calm down. "It might seem cold, letting her take all the risk. But we're keeping a close eye on her."

"Do you really need to risk her life to get the information you want?" I asked.

Chellick sighed. "This job isn't easy and it's usually unpleasant. I'll take help anywhere I can find it." He gave me a speculative look. "But since you're so concerned with her safety, maybe there's a way we can help each other."

Garrus chuckled. "Always thinking ahead, Chellick?"

"It's part of the job. You know that, Garrus." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Garrus acknowledge that with a nod. "Now are you going to help me or not?"

Hmm. Sounded like Chellick was willing to consider letting Jenna go. If I played my cards right, maybe... "You're a smart guy, Chellick," I said. "You must have another way."

"I do have several contingencies; she's just my 'option A.'" Chellick conceded. "Look, I'll cut her loose, even get her out of Chora's Den, no strings attached. But... that still leaves my case unsolved. I could still use your help."

Score! Damsel out of distress, and now my help looks all the more altruistic because it's out of the so-called pureness of my heart! Sometimes this hero stuff is so damn easy!

"Sure, I'm in," I replied "but I'll need some details."

"I'm trying to track down an illegal arms producer," Chellick began. "I just need some of their product. Thanks to Jenna's intel, I've learned there's a seller here on the Citadel with an inventory of weapon and ammo mods. Meet the buyer, Jax, pick up the mods, and bring them back here. That'll give me everything I need."

"Is this Jax just a middle-man, or is he high up enough on the chain of command to make it worth 'persuading' him to give me his source?" I asked.

"I doubt it," Garrus spoke from behind me. "This Jax," he asked Chellick. "Krogan? Black head crest and armour, pale skin? Tends to hire turian mercs? Hasn't shown up for a couple years?"

"Good memory," Chellick nodded. "That's the one. You wouldn't have seen him the last time he was here, would you?"

"I was still in orientation. So, unless he was up in the Presidium, we wouldn't have met." Garrus replied. Turning to me, Garrus filled in the blanks. "After basic training, C-Sec officers start out in the Presidium. Less crime there, so it's a good chance to settle in and get used to life on the Citadel. Anyways, Jax is just a gun-for-hire. As tempting as it might be to 'interrogate' him, he won't know anything of value, and it'll cause more trouble than it'll solve."

"Exactly," Chellick stressed. "You tip Jax off like that, and all my leads will disappear faster than you can say 'bad bust.'"

"Okay, I'm in. Simple transaction, no trouble," I agreed. "Where can I find this Jax?"

"He's usually down in the lower level of the markets," Chellick responded. "I'll send word through our channels that you're the buyer."

"Could you set up the meet in, say, an hour, Chellick?" Garrus asked. "Give us some time to get there in advance and set up?"

"I knew you wouldn't forget your time in C-Sec that quickly," Chellick complimented him. "Sure, I'll set the meet for 1900. Good luck, Commander."

I think we were all looking at Garrus in a different light as we left Chellick's office. At the very least, I was. "Sounds like you've done this before," I commented.

Garrus shrugged. "Once or twice," he admitted. "I was never senior enough to set one up myself, but I've helped out now and then."

"Then you're the expert on these matters," I concluded. "Any ideas?"

As it turned out, Garrus didn't have a couple ideas. He had a full-fledged plan of attack, which he quickly laid out for us: "The lower markets has two entrances: one via a staircase that connects to the Upper Wards, the other a door opening into the hallway outside Chora's Den. I propose we split up. Shepard's team enters through one entrance. The other team waits outside the other entrance, just in case Jax tries to turn the tables on us and we need someone to flank them. That shouldn't happen: Jax is professional enough to avoid hostilities if he can. But he'll be the first to fight back at the slightest provocation."

"What if Jax has the same idea as we do, and has a team standing by?" Kaidan asked.

"Unlikely," Garrus replied. "That scenario assumes the likelihood of conflict, and as I said, Jax will try to avoid that. Besides, he's a cheap bastard. I'd be surprised if he had more than two or three turians backing him up."

By this point, we were entering one of the cars in the rapid transit terminal. As I punched in our destination, Garrus continued: "Since we haven't formalized team arrangements yet—"

"Sorry to interrupt, Garrus," Kaidan butted in. "Commander, we'll need to talk about that at some point."

"I know," I acknowledged. "We'll do that once we're back on the Normandy." Seeing Kaidan's nod, I looked back at Garrus. "Go on," I prompted.

"I was thinking that Wrex and I should accompany you," Garrus continued. "Everyone will dismiss Wrex as just another merc—no offense," he added.

"None taken," Wrex rumbled back. "It's true, after all. If they can't figure that out, they deserve to get shot."

"And I can help determine if things are going bad," Garrus continued.

"Is there a risk that Jax might recognize you as a C-Sec officer?" Liara asked.

"Not all turians stay on the right side of the law. Otherwise, Jax would never be able to find any turian mercs," Garrus reminded her. "Besides, this hardsuit I'm wearing costs more than my C-Sec salary for the entire year, all of my weapons come from different manufacturers, and, as I told Chellick, I wasn't stationed in the Wards the last time Jax was here. So I actually do fit the part of a gun-for-hire."

"So, what, the rest of us are backup?" Ashley broke in. "Why's that, Garrus. Why're we getting sidelined?"

To his credit, Garrus didn't rise up to Ashley's bait. "Shepard won't be able to pass as a run-of-the-mill merc, but he could pass as ex-military. He'll have to, since Chellick's telling Jax that he's the contact. With all due respect, Chief, you and Kaidan couldn't; you look too 'military.' You'd be better off backing us up. Similarly, I think Tali and Liara would be better off using their skill sets in a back-up capacity."

"That makes sense," Tali said. Liara nodded in agreement.

Ashley looked like she was about to make a retort, but shut her mouth when Kaidan nudged her knee. Thankfully, we were almost at the Upper Markets, so the next minute or so wasn't too uncomfortable.

Still, I figured we needed to set things straight before things went down. "Garrus, Wrex," I said upon exiting the rapid transit terminal. "Go through the Upper Markets and make sure there aren't any potential friends of Jax hanging around. Kaidan, bring your team to the alley."

As everyone was about to leave, I added. "Ash, could I see you for a minute."

Ashley stuck around while the others departed. "Sir?" she asked.

"Just wanted to hear your thoughts on the teams," I started.

"They're fine, I guess," she responded.

"You 'guess,'" I repeated.

"Well, I guess, I mean..." she stumbled around for a bit before finally blurting it out "I guess I'd be more comfortable if one of us was backing you up as well."

"You mean, you or Kaidan," I interpreted. Upon seeing her nod, I sighed. "You don't trust Garrus or Wrex? Or is it nonhumans that you have an issue with?"

"It's not that, Commander. I trust them. They're good in a fight. Even Tali and Liara, and technically they're civvies. It's just... I've spent my entire career working with humans. I guess I just trust them a bit more."

"I see." Actually, I didn't. Maybe Ashley's feelings didn't stem from speciesism as much as they did from a lack of experience with aliens. If so, that was rather odd: most marines encountered aliens or nonhumans on at least one posting. The only way Ashley's career could be so limited was if she spent every assignment groundside. **(8)**

Making a mental note to check on that, I said "Well, you're in a multiracial crew now. Don't be afraid to speak up if one of them needs help keeping up, but keep an open mind while you're at it, okay?"

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Go catch up with Alenko and the others, Chief."

She snapped off a quick salute, and then jogged off. I strolled towards Wrex and Garrus, not wanting to draw any attention from the crowds. I linked up with them near the stairway, where that stalker fan ambushed me the last two times. Thankfully, he hadn't come back yet.

"Commander, we've cased the area as you requested," Garrus greeted me. "We're clear. Wrex brought up a good point, though."

I nodded to Garrus. "Wrex?"

"Two humans, an asari and a quarian. All waiting outside the room Jax is about to enter," Wrex laid it out. "He can't be that stupid."

"Right," I said. I closed my eyes, bringing up that area of the Citadel in my mind. "Split the team up; cover each entrance to the alley instead."

Wrex and Garrus nodded. "Maybe pair Kaidan and Ashley together," Garrus added. "Two Alliance marines together don't look as obvious. Plus, they've worked together before."

Giving another nod to the merits of his argument, and his unspoken observation of Ashley's comments, I opened the squad comm. "Change of plans," I stated. "Kaidan, Ashley, move back to the Upper Wards, outside the entrance to the alleyway leading to Chora's Den. Wrex," I turned and looked at him. "Go link up with Liara and Tali. The three of you will go to Chora's Den, just in case Jax and his friends come from that direction."

"Those two could use some extra muscle to back them up," Wrex agreed. "Especially in Chora's. See you in an hour." With that, he headed off, while the others confirmed my order. It took about ten minutes for everyone to settle in their new positions.

"Okay, now that we're all set, I want radio silence," I said. "Let us know if you see anyone matching Jax's description. Otherwise, I want zero comm traffic. Give a single click on the comm if you understand."

Two clicks came back. Good.

"Now we wait," I said aloud, glancing at Garrus.

"Yep."

* * *

One of the benefits of sniper training is that you acquire the ability to do absolutely nothing, watching people come and go, while poised to strike at a moment's notice.

I had guessed that Garrus had gained the same talent, given his skill with the sniper rifle, though I wanted to confirm why that patience didn't translate into certain other areas. "Long wait," I said casually.

"Part of the game," he replied.

"Chellick did a good job setting all this up."

"He's one of the best. Knows how to play the game."

"You did a good job setting up the plan on how we'd handle the meet with Jax."

"Thank you, Commander. All part of the game."

"Must have to fill out a lot of paperwork, though."

"Yep."

Aha!

"Not part of the game?" I probed.

"No," Garrus replied tersely.

"Both require a certain amount of patience," I commented. "I've had to take the time to fill all sorts of forms and papers in my career. You must have, too."

"There's taking the time to get the job done, and then there's _wasting _time to satisfy some idiot behind a desk," Garrus stated.

"This is the former?" I probed.

"Yes."

"And stuff like rules, regulations, and paperwork?"

"The latter."

"Hmm."

I would've liked to take the time to probe a little more. Unfortunately, Jax wasn't so accommodating.

"Contact," Kaidan's voice broke in over the comm. "Krogan and two turians, all in black, just entered the alleyway."

"Wait one minute, then have everyone move to the marketplace entrance," I responded. "Wrex, once they're in position, take the long way around and meet up with me and Garrus. Everyone, keep your comms on my channel." I wanted them to stay in the loop, so they'd know when to move in, if necessary.

Two clicks came back in response. Good to know they were maintaining comm discipline.

After Wrex came back, the three of us headed down the stairs. Sure enough, a krogan was waiting for us, flanked by two turians. After Garrus quietly identified him as Jax, we moved towards him.

"Hold it," Jax barked when we were a couple metres away. "That's close enough, 'army.' You got my payment?"

"You got the mods?" I responded.

"Show him the goods," Jax ordered the turian on his left, who opened a small case.

"Looks good," Wrex confirmed.

"Damn straight!" Jax barked. "These mods are the best on the market. Now hand over my credits."

"Here you go," I said, handing over the cash.

"Here you go," Jax replied, handing over the case. "Enjoy it. Come on, boys. We're done here."

Jax and his companions moved towards the side entrance, the one near Chora's Den. As Wrex, Garrus and I moved towards the staircase, I muttered into my comm "Kaidan, you're gonna have company if your team doesn't get out of there."

"We're almost at the Upper Wards, Commander," Kaidan reassured me. "We'll meet you at the rapid transit terminal outside Dr. Michel's office."

"Understood, Lieutenant."

* * *

About twelve minutes later, the squad had hooked up, took the rapid transit line to C-Sec and were reporting back to Chellick.

"Commander," the detective greeted me. "I hear you have something for me."

"Here's your shipment, Chellick," I replied, handing over Jax's mods.

"Excellent. This is everything I need." Chellick's head tilted slightly as he took a closer look at the contents of the case. "Hmm. Maybe more than I need," he mused.

Coming to a decision, he grabbed an ammo mod and a pack of omni-gel, and handed it to me. "Here, Commander, take this. I won't need it, and you've earned some payment for your work.

"I appreciate your help," he added. "It shows a lot of integrity. You didn't need to do anything after I let Jenna go."

"No, I didn't need to," I replied, leaving the rest unsaid. Chellick nodded as he filled in the blanks.

"Now, I need to get these mods into evidence," Chellick muttered, pulling up a program on his computer. "Thanks again, Shepard."

We left him filling out records and headed for the dock elevator. After all the fun I'd had lately, it was going to be a relief getting back onboard the Normandy. Heck, I didn't even mind the painfully long elevator ride or the decon cycle.

As I was activating the Galaxy Map to select the Normandy's destination, the radio clicked.

"Message coming in," Joker reported. "Patching it through."

"Commander," Admiral Hackett's voice came in. "Ms. Al-Jalani's story on you just aired."

That was fast.

"She shouldn't have ambushed you like that. But you handled her pretty well."

"Permission to speak freely," I requested.

"Granted."

"To be honest, I thought she was full of crap," I said bluntly.

"But you were smart enough not to say that. You've got a knack for handling the press," Hackett complimented.

Eh. All those years of being hounded by the media had to be good for something, I suppose.

"Just wanted to let you know what the response was back home," Hackett continued. "I won't keep you any longer. Fifth Fleet out."

And with that, I was off to explore strange, barely explored worlds. To seek out new minerals and new pockets of mercs. To boldly go where Saren might have gone before.

* * *

_(1): In fact, the Normandy itself was a product of turian and human engineering, from bow to stern. Not only was this a novel way to incorporate and test a variety of new technologies and designs, it helped foster greater cooperation between our species, and helped ease some of the tension that still lingered from the First Contact War._

_(2): Special Task Groups, or STG, form a major component of the salarian military, which emphasizes intelligence gathering and special operations. As they have a lower profile than Spectres or the Citadel Fleet, they are tasked by the Council to monitor "developing situations" and, when necessary, "handle" them. In this case, Shepard is not referring to their effectiveness, but rather, to the fact that they are still reliant on modes of transport that can be detected by the enemy._

_(3): This is another example of how Shepard's personal logs deviated from the standard format._

_(4): Shepard is referring to the fact that, at this point, the amount of intermingling made traditional notions of "race" largely irrelevant. _

_(5): In general, Shepard does a good job of dictating events in chronological order. However, he does tend to omit things from time to time if he feels they are of minor importance. To his credit, he does go back and summarize the details, as the reader can see in this case, which minimizes the amount of cross-checking one might need in order to fill in the blanks._

_(6): This may be a good point to remind readers that I had access to Shepard's reports, so I was already aware of the status of his assignment, and thus had no need to ask him about it._

_(7): It becomes increasingly clear at this point that Shepard's personal logs shift from an already unconventionally formatted series of reports to a first-person semi-autobiography. I suspect this was not Shepard's foresight in having his thoughts published or distributed, but rather, an attempt to give voice to his thoughts and doubts before they overwhelm him. He once confided in me that if he told the true version of his military record to a priest, even one with sufficient security clearance, that poor soul would run screaming from the confessional. Of course, Shepard may have been kidding at the time. _

_(8): A term that means the surface of a planet, typically within a planetary garrison. As Shepard noted, being groundside for your entire military career was highly unusual. Shepard's investigation behind this anomaly is detailed in future entries, and need not concern us for the time being._


	14. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

If I did what I was supposed to do, I'd have gone straight to Feros as soon as I left the Citadel.

But then, that wouldn't be very fun, now would it?

There were a few clusters between the Serpent Nebula and the Attican Beta cluster, where the Citadel and Feros were situated, respectively. So long as I didn't spend too much time in the intervening clusters, I didn't see any reason why I couldn't check them out first.

To start, I took us back to the Artemis Tau cluster. We were going to check out the planet Sharjila, in the Macedon system, and rescue Dantius's sister. Even if we didn't find any minerals to survey, adding another grateful politician to my collection never hurts. Or so I thought.

Once I'd told Joker where to go, I headed down to see Kaidan. He'd brought up a valid point earlier, and I thought we should address it.

Personally, I think Kaidan was relieved to do something other than stare at that blinking console, though he was too professional to say it out loud. I entertained the notion of discussing it in my quarters, then dropped that idea. It wasn't that top secret, anyways.

"Something you need, Commander?" Kaidan asked.

"Just following up on your comment earlier about the team arrangements," I replied. "I know I've been switching them up fairly often."

"Why _are _you doing that, Commander? In combat, the strength of a team lies in the ability of each member to know and compensate for each other's weaknesses; to make the best use of each other's strengths; to know and respond to each other's talents and quirks without being told. That's not going to happen if the teams keep getting switched every mission." **(1)**

"True, and that's why I will formalize the team arrangements. Eventually," I responded. "First, I want to get a sense of the strengths, weaknesses and talents of each squad member. The only way I can do that is if they've spent at least some time in my team. Plus, I'm giving everyone a chance to work with the other squad mates at least once. After that, I'll have a better idea of how to divide up the squad."

"I see. Do you have any tentative ideas on how to do that, sir?"

I shrugged. "Default composition? Something that gives each team some combat experience, tech support and biotic support. In special circumstances, I might tinker with the squad composition to make one team combat-oriented team and the other support-oriented."

"Hmm," Kaidan leaned against the wall and pondered my answers. "You know, this isn't Alliance SOP. I guess you really are taking advantage of your right as a Spectre to get things done your way."

I shrugged again. "Since we can afford to experiment a little and try new things right now, why not? Your points are valid, though," I added, "which is why I _will _formalize the teams soon. Probably by the time we reach Feros."

"Just wanted to make sure," Kaidan said.

"You wouldn't be doing your job if you weren't," I smiled. "We're heading towards Sharjila, to rescue Ms. Dantius's sister. Do a good deed, run through a quick survey, and—"

"And experiment a little," Kaidan interrupted with a smile of his own. "Gotcha. I'll run down and have the squad start suiting up."

I checked the chronometer. We'd probably be entering the Macedon system any minute now. "Might as well," I conceded. "I'll grab Liara and meet you guys down there."

Took a bit longer to get Liara down to the hangar. She was busy looking at one of those Prothean discs we found. When I found her at the back of the sickbay, she insisted she was on the verge of unlocking its secrets. After a few minutes, she sheepishly admitted that she had tried that very tactic two hours ago, and conceded that maybe it was time for a break.

Sharjila itself isn't exactly a tourist spot. Dense atmosphere, lots of silica particulates swept up and blown around by high-gale winds, scarce mineral resources (believe me, I checked). Doesn't take a genius to determine why the mercs who kidnapped Dantius's sister holed up here.

Their hideout was a standard prefab two-story structure protected by several guards, some of whom were perched in guard towers. Using the Mako's cannons, we quickly took out the towers in short order. Then I drove away from the compound, much to the surprise of my squad.

"Sensors picked up a crashed probe nearby," I explained. "Thought we'd check that out first. By the time we get back, the guards might be lulled into a false sense of security, and it'll be easier to check out."

Some of my squad seemed to accept my rationale at face value. Others were a bit more sceptical, particularly when I displayed a little too much eagerness in hacking open the probe. There were only a couple armour mods hidden away, but every little bit counts, right?

Well, I couldn't really justify stalling any more after that, so we went back to the compound. I parked the Mako on a hill. Just behind a large boulder, so the mercs couldn't see us.

"Ashley, Garrus, you're with me," I ordered. "We're going on sniper duty. The rest of you, hang tight."

I led my fellow snipers to the ridge. My HUD was already flashing a warning that the intense pressure from this planet was starting to compromise the hardsuit. We'd only have a few minutes to have our fun before we got squished into very expensive pancakes (hey, those hardsuits cost a lot of credits!).

We could see two guards hiding behind a large metal screen—which didn't help them since our vantage point gave a clear LOS to their flank, and another guard facing us—but not looking up.

"Call your targets," I said.

"Guard hiding behind the screen, farthest away from us," Ashley said first.

"Guard facing us," Garrus was next.

"I'll take out the remaining guard," I concluded. "Line 'em up."

We all peered through our scopes and steadied our aim on our designated targets. "Got it," I said first. Ashley and Garrus quickly confirmed they had their targets.

"Take the shot on three... one, two, three."

I heard three muffled shots, followed by three guards collapsing in unison, like they were a trio of puppets who'd just had their strings cut. Then I checked my HUD. Plenty of time to make it back to the safety of the Mako before our hardsuits started cracking.

Upon returning to the Mako, I checked the sensors. They were far stronger than the sensors installed in our hardsuits, so they had a better range. Not surprisingly, we still had a couple more guards on the other side of the building. Since I was feeling generous, I told Kaidan to lead Tali, Liara and Wrex and take them out, once I got the Mako down.

As expected, it was pretty easy. Heck, I inadvertently took out one of the guards when I ran him over in the Mako. As for the remaining guard, one blast of biotics knocked him on his ass, and a couple shotgun rounds finished him off.

The interior of the building was fairly cookie-cutter. Like I said, it was a standard pre-fab. Entrance hallway was clear, with one door leading into a large room cluttered with crates, which the mercs would inevitably hide behind. Room at the far left corner would have a few goodies. Stairway on the near right corner led to the second level: a catwalk with a bunch of crates on one end, and a door leading to a final room on the far right corner.

Before entering the main room, I took a second to switch up the team arrangements. "Just so you guys know," I began, "I _will _be finalizing the team arrangements soon. Right now, I just want to give everyone a chance to work with everyone else. For now, Ashley and Liara will follow me. Everyone else, with Kaidan."

I know, I know: it seems odd to deliberately put myself on the team with fewer squad members. On the other hand, I wasn't expecting a ridiculous amount of opposition, so I could afford to have fewer people to hide behind. Plus, it looks good when I don't seem to stack the team in my favour.

Once everyone had their weapons out, we entered the main room; my team veered to the left, Kaidan's team went right. There were a couple mercs sitting near one of the crates, playing cards or something. As soon as they saw us, one of them cried out for help while the other grabbed a shotgun and fired off a round, yelling some nonsense like "I will destroy you."

Seeing how they fired first, we responded with a clear conscience. By which, I mean, lots of tech mines, lots of biotics and lots of ammo. Oh, sure, that first pair was soon backed up by reinforcements, but we managed to hold our own.

Then I saw that we were outnumbered two to one, several of my squad had had their shields drained, and a couple squad mates had taken some serious damage to their armour.

"Fall back to the entrance," I yelled over a burst of pistol fire. "Fall back!"

To my pleasure, both teams responded immediately. Kaidan's team paused to lay down another volley of fire, giving time for my team to retreat to a cluster of crates. Then it was our turn to cover Kaidan's team while they retreated. A couple leapfrogs later, and we were back outside the entrance to the room.

"We need some crowd control," Ashley panted. "Otherwise, they'll outflank us for sure."

"Commander," Liara said. "I can create a micro-singularity that would draw in everyone and everything within a certain radius. It wouldn't crush them, but it would render them helpless while they float in mid-air."

"Nice," Ashley grinned.

I nodded my approval. "Liara, do that as soon as we enter the room. "Tali, Kaidan, take out the shields and weapons of any mercs that escape the singularity. The rest of us will open fire on the mercs that aren't floating around. Once they're down, then we can worry about the mercs caught in the singularity."

Things went pretty much as planned. Liara cast her singularity, which trapped over half of the mercs and several large crates. Judging by the thumps I heard, I gathered that those unlucky bastards were taking some damage from bouncing off the crates. Meanwhile, the remaining mercs lost most of their shields and simultaneously overheated their weapons, courtesy of a few well placed tech mines. A couple minutes later, and all the mercs were down. Hardest part was trying to track the mercs caught in the singularity, who kept spinning randomly around in space.

Then I felt a force hit me like a rapid transit car, slamming me to the ground.

I spent the next minute struggling to get up, and failing. A blue-purple force was pinning me down, and preventing me from moving a muscle. Guess it was about time I got hit with some biotics from the opposing side.

Eventually, I managed to get to my feet, though the biotic attack was still inflicting damage on my hardsuit. I saw a couple turians and a salarian firing back at Kaidan's team... though they seemed to be a man short. Those thoughts were quickly erased when I saw the asari, arm raised, a ball of biotic energy building in her hand.

Seeking to avoid another round of paralysis and helplessness, I dove to the side. Whipping out my pistol, I started firing at the asari, radioing the others to do the same. Kaidan, Tali and Garrus joined me from my end, while another group started firing from the side. Looked like the rest of the squad split off and sneaked up on the enemy's blind side. Good tactics there. With that kind of attack, it didn't take long for us to finish off the asari, and then deal with the last of the mercs.

Once the firefight was over, Garrus emerged from yet another stack of crates, followed by Ashley and Tali.

"Garrus took over as team leader after you were... disabled," Kaidan explained.

"I'm glad you guys could think on your feet," I said, meaning every word. My squad was demonstrating its capacity to operate while I was down for the count, and its willingness to save my hide.

Now that the action was over, it was time for my favourite activity: scrounging. "Kaidan, take your team and head up the stairs. See what you can find. The rest of you, with me."

Those slavers sure had a lot of loot. Three crates full of weapons and mods, and a medical container that held some hardsuits.

While I was gathering up the last of the goods, Kaidan came in over the comm. "Commander," he said. Something in his voice made me pause. "You better get up here."

"Understood," I responded. I looked around. "Are we done here?" I asked my companions.

"Think so," Ashley replied.

"If not, we can always come back later," Liara added.

Conceding both their points with a nod, I motioned them to follow me, and we headed for the stairs.

The rest of the squad was waiting for us in the room on the second floor, clustered around a desk. Kaidan handed me a datapad. "You'll want to take a look at this," he said seriously.

The datapad had two files open. One was a list of recent assignments; the other a list of personnel. The former made no mention of any recent hijackings, much less the capture of any asari named Dantius. In fact, based on their activities, it seemed that slaving was more their stock in trade. The latter _did _mention one Dahlia Dantius... an asari who just happened to be the leader of this gang of slavers.

I handed the datapad to Ashley and Liara, who simultaneously gasped in shock after reading its contents. "Interesting," was all I said.

"I thought this felt wrong," Garrus commented.

"Like I said, Shepard, felt like a hit," Wrex echoed.

"True," I agreed, "and I'll have to have a little chat with Ms. Dantius when we return to the Citadel. Right now, we have a few other matters to attend to."

Those matters involved heading over to the next few couple clusters and checking them out before arriving at Feros. After we finished clearing the base of any goods, of course.

When we got back to the Normandy, the squad headed down to the garage to pack away their gear. I stayed behind and headed for the cockpit. Figured it was about time I got to know my helmsman a little better.

"Commander," Joker greeted me. "Something you need?"

I shrugged. "I like to know my crew. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Joker snorted. "I can see where this is going. You did a background check on me, didn't you? Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told the captain."

Huh?

"You _want _me as your pilot. I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet. Top of my class in flight school? I _earned _that. All those commendations in my file? I earned every single one. Those weren't given to me as "charity" for my disease.

Okay, clearly I'd stumbled into something without knowing how the game was played. Rather than fumble around and try to figure out the rules, I chose option B: change the rules entirely.

"I'm sorry, Joker," I said quietly, sitting down in the co-pilot seat. "I didn't even know you were sick."

Joker looked at me incredulously. "You mean..." His face abruptly shifted to a look of realization. "You mean you didn't know." He shook his head. "Ah, crap."

"Okay. I've got Vrolik's Syndrome," he said, looking me in the eye. "Brittle bone disease. The bones in my legs never developed properly. They're basically hollow. Too much force and they'll shatter. Even with crutches and my leg braces, it's hard to get around. One wrong step and CRACK! It's very dramatic! But I've learned to manage my condition, Commander. Put the Normandy in my hands and I'll make her dance for you. Just don't ask me to get up and dance, unless, you know, you like the sound of snapping shin bones."

"What else can you tell me about Vrolik's Syndrome?" I asked.

"It's an extremely rare condition. No one knows what causes it. Genetic, maybe. It's treatable, but there's no cure. They classify my case as moderate to severe. I was born with over a dozen fractures—hips, thighs, ankles. My bones were already breaking in the womb. A hundred years ago, I wouldn't have survived past my first year. Luckily for me, modern medical science has turned me into a 'productive member of society.'"

"I see. Why does everyone call you Joker?" I moved on.

"It's a lot shorter than saying Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau," he replied sarcastically. "Plus I love to make little children laugh."

"I was just thinking how much you remind me of Santa Claus," I quipped back, looking at his beard.

"Look, I didn't pick the name," Joker said in an annoyed tone. "One of the instructors in flight school used to bug me about never smiling. She started calling me Joker—" he paused to make a mock funny face "—and it stuck."

"Why didn't you ever smile?"

"Hey, I worked my ass off in flight school, Commander. The galaxy's not going to hand you anything if you go around grinning like an idiot. By the end of the year, I was the best pilot in the Academy. Even better than the instructors. And everybody knew it. They'd all gotten their asses kicked by the sickly kid with the creaky little legs. One guess who was smiling at graduation."

Hmm. So _that's _why Joker was such a wise-cracking ass all the time: it was a facade to hide all the crap he'd gone through _since he was born_. At least I had twenty-odd years of normalcy before things went south.

"How'd you end up joining the Alliance?" I asked, trying to shift the subject a bit.

Joker saw right through me. Damnit, I used to be better at this. "If you're looking for an inspirational tale of the crushed kid overcoming impossible odds, you're going to be disappointed. My mother was a civilian contractor working for the Alliance. I basically grew up on the Arcturus station, back when they were building up the fleets. Spend all that time around Alliance ships and there's a good chance you'll end up going to the Academy."

"Either that, or enlist as a grunt," I agreed. "Both my parents were spacers with the Alliance. After that, might've been a bit odd if I _didn't _sign up as well."

"Just a bit," Joker agreed.

"How's the Normandy performing?" I said abruptly. Just to shift the conversation to something more in Joker's comfort zone. "Is she everything they said she'd be?"

"She's the best ship in the fleet..." Joker responded. He couldn't resist adding "...if you've got a pilot who knows how to handle her. Balance isn't what you'd expect. Takes a while to get used to that oversized drive core we got stuffed in the back. Her power can sneak up on you if you're not careful. The Normandy's probably too much ship for your average Alliance pilot, Commander," he concluded. "Lucky for you, I'm anything but average."

"Glad to hear it," I replied, before bending down and looking him square in the eye. "I don't make a habit of putting any of my crew on trial, so I don't want any crew members, average or not, doing something stupid because they think they have something to prove. Think you can pass that along?"

Joker got the message. "Sure thing, Commander." **(2)**

"I have to go," I said, straightening up.

"All right, see ya," Joker replied, already absorbed in his work.

* * *

Some people say they're never bored, because there's always something to do. Those people might be onto something. For example, I spent a merry half hour hacking into the intraship comm network. The look on the crew's face when "Secret Agent Man" blared out over the speakers was priceless.

Seriously, just about every system has something going on, and I keep finding it, either because I'm too damn curious or I'm too damn heroic. Or both.

For example, the Hades Gamma cluster. Last stop before the Attican Beta cluster, which houses the star system that Feros is in. Five systems. Each with its own little puzzle.

System 1, Antaeus, had a survey team on Trebin that had gone AWOL. Turns out, they stumbled across some wacky artefact that turned them all into husks. Nothing else to do but put those poor bastards out of their misery.

System 2 requires a little more explanation. It all started back on the Citadel. A woman named Helena Blake greeted me shortly after TPTB slapped the giant bulls-eye target of Spectre on my head. She was far too polite and dignified, so I knew something was up. Turns out, she was a high-ranking head of a crime cartel who wanted the two bosses eliminated. She took the moral high ground, saying they were red sand dealers who sold off any druggies who fell behind on their payments to slavers, and assured me that she'd restrict the cartel's activities to more tasteful crimes once she gained power. **(3)** Even though I politely declined, she forwarded their locations to me anyways, as well as the location of her hideout once I performed the hits. As they were on the way to Feros, I figured, why not. Worst case scenario, I could always take her out, too.

So, I went to Klensal, in the Dis system and took out a bunch of mercs. One down, one to go.

I hasten to add that I was doing my fair share of mineral and gas surveying and crate looting. Hadn't completely lost sight of my priorities, after all. I was looking forward to the same in the Farinata system when Admiral Hackett called me up.

"Commander," he greeted me "we've got a situation that requires your expertise. A group of fanatical biotics have kidnapped the chairman of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Transhuman Studies. Their freighter sustained damage and is dead in space."

"What are the biotics asking for?" I inquired.

"They're L2 biotics, and most of them are suffering major side effect from the implants. The subcommittee denied a request for reparations to all L2 biotics. Apparently, they'd like the chairman to reconsider," Hackett concluded dryly.

"Fancy that," I responded. "What's the priority on saving the chairman?" Had to ask. Alliance has a SOP for hostage situations, which Hackett quickly confirmed.

"Saving him would be my preference, but we must make it clear that these tactics don't work, Commander. Your top priority is to neutralize the biotics."

"Understood, Admiral," I said. "I'll see what I can do."

"I appreciate you taking the time, Commander. I'm sending you the last known coordinates of the freighter. Good luck. Fifth Fleet out."

With Hackett's data, it didn't take us long to find the freighter. Joker lived up to his promises by effortlessly docking with the freighter, the MSV Ontario, without a bump, and my squad went on board. Ashley and Liara were with me; Kaidan led the rest.

A standard Kowloon-class vessel, her design was everything I'd expected it to be. The airlock opened into a room with a bunch of crates which connected into a passageway that led off to the right into the main cargo hold, housing a maze of large transport crates. At the far end lay a passageway that connected to compartments on either side and the cockpit at the far end. What those compartments held varied from ship to ship: the modular design of the Kowloon-class allowed them to be swapped out for something more customized, thus fitting the desires of the captain or crew.

It was easygoing at first. Even managed to hack a few crates and pull out a Sokolov IX shotgun, a Volkov VIII sniper rifle and a couple miscellaneous pistols.

Then we entered the main cargo hold and ran into a pair of men. One of them raised a hand and sent a ball of biotic energy rippling towards us. Everyone got out of the way in time, except for me. As I got pinned down to the floor, _again_, I reflected that this hero/Spectre gig was definitely degrading my survival instincts.

The next minute was spent hearing exchanges of gunfire, with the odd cry of "I will destroy you" from the opposition. I blame the entertainment industry, and that damn series of inaccurate and special-effects laden movies in particular, for planting that annoying phrase into commonplace vernacular.

Finally, I managed to get back on my feet. By then, most of the terrorists were dead. I managed to take out the last one myself, mainly to stop her from yelling that really annoying phrase in an act of defiance.

Once we established that the cargo hold was clear, we raced towards the bow of the ship, checking each room. For once, the universe was smiling on us and we found the remaining terrorists, with the hostage, on our first try.

"See how it is," one of the terrorists, a balding Asian with a goatee who I took to be the leader, said. "You write letters and everyone ignores you. Force is the only thing people appreciate." He ground his pistol a bit deeper into the skull of a dark-skinned man, presumably the chairman. "So how 'bout I kill Chairman Burns and finish this charade?"

"Please! I was trying to help you people," Burns cried out.

"Let's not do anything we're all going to regret," I said soothingly. Well, relatively soothing, considering I was still holding my pistol.

"Why not?" the terrorist leader asked. "What have we got to lose? Since the chairman here decided he didn't get reparations," he jabbed the pistol into Burns's head again, making him wince "we have nothing else to live for."

"But I've changed my mind!" Burns burst out.

How convenient.

Burns continued speaking. "Seeing all of you, it's c-clear you all deserve—"

"You had your chance," the leader snarled. "Some L2s are nearly crippled from side effects of the implants, but you voted against reparations!"

"Think about this," I implored the leader. "Burns is the one man who can help you."

Burns pounced on my words like a starving dog on a bone. "Yes! If you release me, I can take another look at the reparations request."

The leader looked at me incredulously. "What? We're supposed to trust you? Sure, you promise us freedom and say everything will be fine, but as soon as we surrender, you'll double-cross us!"

"If you can't trust him, trust me," Kaidan jumped in. "I'm a L2, just like you guys, and I've faced the pain firsthand. Commander Shepard will help you. I'll make sure of it."

"I'm not promising to let you go," I took over, nodding my thanks at Kaidan. "All I'm saying is that Burns will take another look. Right, Burns?"

"Absolutely," the chairman said quietly. "I had no idea that the L2 biotics were this desperate. If I'd known... the reparations will come," he continued firmly. "For whatever it's worth, I promise that."

For a moment, I thought the terrorist leader would just pull the trigger anyways. Then, his shoulders slumped. He lowered his pistol as a look of fatigue washed over his face.

"You're right," he said. "I don't want to die. Maybe something will happen this time. We surrender."

As the other terrorists put down their weapons, Burns cautiously got back to his feet. "Thank you, Commander. I thought I was dead when they took me. I'll see to it that the reparation discussion is reopened. I didn't know they were so desperate."

Did you even bother to look, I wanted to ask. How can you call yourself a chairman if you weren't even doing your job? Aloud, I said "A Fifth Fleet cruiser will be by shortly to pick you and the prisoners up," and left with my squad. **(4)**

* * *

After looting the freighter, we left the Farinata system. Having decided that this cluster would have nothing but headaches, I decided to try somewhere else before I resumed my mission. We were on route to the Gemini Sigma cluster when Hackett called me up.

"Thank you for dealing with the hostage situation, Commander," he said. "Chairman Burns was quite impressed by the way you resolved the situation peacefully. Your assistance above and beyond formal duties has been noted, Commander. Fifth Fleet out."

With that, I entered the Gemini Sigma cluster, and quickly found out that it had the same delightful surprises as the Hades Gamma cluster.

Okay, the Han system wasn't really a surprise. I knew going in that it held the hideout for the second crime boss Blake asked me to take out. Nothing my squad couldn't handle, mind you.

The Mavignon system had another derelict Kowloon-class freighter, one with a cargo hold filled with booby traps. We boarded the freighter, called the MSV Worthington, managed to make our way through the cargo hold without being blown to bits, and slowly found out what happened.

Apparently, an accident on board left one of the crewmen, Jacob, brain dead. Understandably, his girlfriend, Julia, was rather upset. Even worse, she was a biotic, and her grief caused her implants to flare up, giving her severe migraines. The crew decided to take Jacob off life support in an act of mercy, and break the news to Julia afterward. Unfortunately, Julia overheard, murdered the entire crew, and set those booby traps.

Shortly after we pieced together the story, Julia attacked us. By that point, she was so deranged; she couldn't even muster a proper attack. We took her out, then went back and disconnected Jacob's life support. Might've been one of the easier missions I've encountered, but it was also one of the saddest.

By this point, I'd given up trying to find a nice peaceful system with nothing else to do but mindlessly search for resources, so I went to the Attican Beta cluster.

On my way to the Theseus system, where Feros was situated, we passed through the Hercules system. We were halfway through when Joker broke in on my comm and delivered a six-word phrase I was starting to hate.

"Message coming in. Patching it through."

I sighed and waited for Hackett to tell me what he needed me to do this time. My mission, should I choose to accept it, was to chase after space monkeys.

Okay, technically, I was chasing after a probe that was gathering intel on geth activities and retrieve the data module before the geth found it. Unfortunately, some space monkeys got there first and somehow removed the data module. We had to search every nearby colony of monkeys before we found the cheeky asshole who swiped it, down in some abandoned mine. Of course, by that point, the geth had caught up with us, and we had to shoot our way out.

Eventually, we reached the Theseus system. As we closed in on Feros, Joker radioed me again. "Message for you, Commander. Just came in over a secure channel."

I braced myself, expecting to hear another request from Hackett. I swear, that guy must have a target board that he throws darts at and rings me up whenever he hits the bulls-eye. To my surprise, the message was a recording from someone else entirely.

"Shepard, this is Admiral Kahoku," the voice whispered urgently. "I found out who set that trap for my men. The ones killed by that thresher maw. Damn, I hope you get this message.

"It was a group called Cerberus. An Alliance black-ops organization. Top secret, highest-level security clearance. They vanished a few months ago. Dropped right off the grid. Nobody knew where they went or what they were up to.

"They've gone completely rogue, Shepard," Kahoku cried out, his voice growing more intense. Frantic, even. "They're conducting illegal genetic experiments, trying to create some kind of super-soldier. I don't have any proof, but I found the coordinates for one of their research worlds. I'm uploading them with this message. **(5)**

"They're completely out of control. Somebody needs to stop them." Kahoku's voice abruptly became quiet again, so quiet I could barely hear him. "I've done my part. Now it's up to you."

"This... this is probably the last you'll hear from me. Cerberus is after me now. I need to disappear before they find me._**" **_

* * *

I watched Feros grow larger and larger in the viewscreen, Admiral Kahoku's words still ringing in my ears.

One can never get bored, no matter how much one might want to. There's always something to do.

* * *

_(1): By this point, Shepard had made it clear to Kaidan that any one-on-one conversations between them could be considered "off the record," and Kaidan thus had permission to speak freely._

_(2): Lieutenant Moreau and I had the same conversation, right down to Shepard's advice that he didn't need to prove anything to me or anyone else. _

_(3): A stimulant created from refined element zero, red sand may take its name from the "red planet" Mars, where criminal triads first created it. Providing extremely short-term euphoria and a biotic form of telekinesis, it is often used by non-biotics to "understand" what biotics experience. Side-effect include red-tinting of the eyes, yellowed teeth and a heightened withdrawal. _

_(4): Shepard later told me that he recorded the entire conversation, just in case. _

_(5): Shepard would run across this pro-human organization again during his mission. His encounters are detailed in future entries, and need not concern us for the time being. It's worth noting, however, that Admiral Kahoku's data may have been inaccurate: intelligence reports suggest that Cerberus had been conducting 'rogue' activities as early as 2170, thirteen years before this log entry._


	15. Personnel Report: Garrus Vakarian

_Editorial Note: This personnel evaluation will examine Garrus Vakarian. Readers are reminded that these evaluations were conducted after his mission was complete, and thus covers a number of conversations, some of which have not occurred at this point in the logs._

**Personnel Evaluation—Garrus Vakarian**

Being a role model and a mentor isn't all it's cracked up to be. Far too often, it means people stamping my mug shot to some random cause, without any consideration as to whether the two actually fit (they usually don't). Far too often, it means some bimbo, moron and/or stalker goes about obsessing over the Man and the Legend; blowing things so far out of proportion, it's clear they left reality a long time ago. **(1)**

Every once in a while, though, I get a chance to "make a difference," as the cliché goes, with someone that actually has a few brain cells to rub together. Like Garrus, for example.

Even when his hot buttons were pushed, Garrus was generally quite calm, civil and collected. For example, I recall one of my earlier conversations with him. It started with the same unoriginal question anyone would ask: why did he join C-Sec.

"Probably the same as most officers," he said. "I wanted to fight injustice, wanted to help people. I guess my father had something to do with it. He was C-Sec. One of the best. I grew up hearing about his accomplishments or seeing his picture on the vids after a big arrest. He's taking my resignation pretty hard," he added.

"That's tough," I sympathized. "But you'd think he'd be impressed that you're going after Saren."

"You'd think that," Garrus agreed. "But he's not."

"Because he'd rather have you follow in his footsteps?" I asked.

"My father's a C-Sec man to the bone, but... it's more than that. He believes things should be done properly. More than most turians, I suppose. 'Do things right, or don't do them at all,' he always said. He thinks I'm being too rash. Too impatient. He's worried I'll become just like Saren. He actually talked me out of becoming a Spectre when I was younger. For the same reason."

My eyebrow rose slightly. "You were asked to be a Spectre?"

"Well, I was targeted as a possible Spectre candidate," he clarified. "Me and about a thousand other turian military recruits. I could have received special training, but my father didn't like it. He despises the Spectres. He hates the idea of someone having unlimited power with no accountability. He wouldn't like you, Commander. No offense."

"I suppose I can understand his concern."

"You can?" Garrus sounded faintly surprised.

"Sure. It can be frustrating seeing someone run around ignoring rules at his or her whim, especially when you have to follow the rules yourself."

"Exactly," Garrus pounced. "Saren's not going to play by our rules. "C-Sec's rules. The Alliance's rules. The Council's rules. If you want to nail Saren, you need to send someone who isn't restricted by policies and procedures."

"Which is probably why SOP for dealing with a rogue Spectre is to send another Spectre," I agreed. Garrus seemed a bit _too _encouraged by my words, so I hastened to finish before he decided to propose something extreme and fatal (for me). "So what did you have in mind, anyways?"

"Um..." came the eloquent response.

"Let me guess," I said dryly. "Follow the clues, ask several seriously awkward questions, and beat the snot out of anyone who gets in our way?"

To his credit, Garrus had an equally dry sense of humour, and was all too willing to use it. "Well, they say the simplest plans are usually the best."

"That could work," I conceded. "Mind you, a little advance planning and subtlety might do the same, while keeping the body count to a minimum and keeping the policy wonks off your back."

"Maybe. But that doesn't always... I'll think about it," he finished.

I'll admit, I was a bit curious. Garrus seemed very calm and methodical, qualities that you wouldn't normally associate with someone who'd be happy to toss the rules aside at a moment's notice. And there was the way he shepherded us, pardon the pun, through that undercover op on the Citadel. None of that explained his disdain for the rules, and why it went beyond the usual frustration over excessive red tape. I was missing something, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what.

That was why, when I eventually semi-formalized the team arrangements in our squad, I kept Garrus with me. It was good to have a fellow sniper and hacker with me who also knew his way around an assault rifle. More importantly, however, I wanted to watch him a bit more. See if I could find that missing piece in the puzzle. And keep his frustration with policies and procedures from getting everyone, especially me, killed.

Well, that didn't really provide much information, either. He was as professional and competent as any soldier, but our experiences together didn't shed any new light on what was going on. I was left in the dark until another one of our conversations, shortly after we picked up Liara from Therum.

I was asking him about what it was like working with C-Sec, and whether he'd ever seen any action.

"Well, not as much as you. But yeah, I've seen some interesting things," he responded.

"I bet you have," I grinned. "Anything in particular that stands out?"

"I remember this salarian geneticist I was sent to investigate. That case was a bit... disturbing."

"What happened? Why were you investigating him?" And why did this case stand out?

"I was tasked with tracking black market trade on the Citadel. Most of it harmless. Nothing I needed to pursue. But during the course of my investigation, I noticed an increase in the trade of body parts. Organs, mostly. We usually get a few of those, but not the numbers I was seeing. We weren't sure if there was a new black market lab or if some freak was harvesting organs from citizens."

Weird, I thought. "You've seen this before on the Citadel?"

"Every so often, some lab sells unwanted parts through the black market," Garrus shrugged. "But they're not as bad as the psychos. I remember this one elcor diplomat we caught in my first year on the job. He was hacking people up and selling their organs. Had the station in a bit of a panic. But this case wasn't that clear cut. Turns out there was more going on then we first realized."

Boy, life on the Citadel wasn't quite as idyllic as the vids made them out to be. I knew the PR guys took some creative liberties here and there, but I didn't realize they were lying through their teeth.

"So how did you figure out what was happening?" I asked.

"First, we got a hold of a sample and ran DNA tests. The weird thing was, the match led us to a turian who was still alive and was very convinced he'd never lost his liver. After a bit of digging, I discovered this turian worked briefly for Dr. Saleon, the geneticist.

"So I went to his lab, hoping to find evidence of cloned organ development. But there was nothing. No salarian hearts, no turian livers, not one krogan testicle."

I had to interrupt at this point. "You're kidding, right? Why would anyone want krogan testicles?" Please don't say it's a delicacy, I thought silently.

"Some krogan believe that testicle transplants can increase their virility. Counteract the effects of the genophage. It doesn't work, but that doesn't stop them from buying. They'll pay up to 10,000 credits each. That's 40,000 for a full set."

Huh. That answer wasn't much better. I got us back to the original discussion before we got too off-track. "What did you do about the geneticist?"

"I brought in some of his employees for interrogation. To see if I could get them to talk. While I was 'interviewing' one of them, I came across something suspicious."

"You mean threatening," I interpreted.

"Something like that. And it paid off. One of my detainees started bleeding profusely during the interview. We offered to patch him up and he got frantic. Totally freaked out. I ordered a full exam, to find out what was going on. Our medics found incisions all over his body. Some of them fresh.

"That was our big break. These people weren't just Dr. Saleon's employees. They were test tubes. Walking, living test tubes."

Whoa. And that brought us across the line from weird to seriously freaky. "He was growing parts inside these people?"

"Exactly. He cloned their organs right inside their own bodies. Then he harvested them and sold them off. Most of the victims were poor. He'd pay them each a small percentage of the sales, but only if the organs were good.

"Sometimes an organ wouldn't grow properly, so he'd just leave it in them. Most of them were a mess, but only on the inside—hidden so nobody could see it."

"I hope he got what he deserved," I said.

I swear I could hear Garrus's mandibles grinding. "That's the worst part. We never caught him."

"Why not? What the hell happened?"

"He ran. Blew his lab, grabbed some of his employees and headed for the nearest space dock. By the time I found out, his ship was already leaving. He threatened to kill his hostages if we tried to stop him."

"But you went after him anyways, right?" I pressed.

"I ordered Citadel defence to shoot him down, but C-Sec headquarters countermanded my orders. They were worried about the hostages. Worried about civilian casualties if the ship was destroyed so close to the Citadel.

"I told them those hostages were dead anyway. He'd just use them to make more organs. But they wouldn't listen."

"It's not worth the risk," I disagreed. "You pursue the vessel and disable it. That's the best choice."

"They sent the military after him, but he got away just the same," Garrus seethed. "I went to Pallin and told him what I thought of him and his policies. He said if I didn't like it, I could quit. I almost did."

For the first time since, well, since Garrus pleaded to join my squad in Dr. Michel's office, his voice raised in anger. "All they had to do was disable that ship. Stop him from running. Maybe the hostages die, maybe they don't. But at least we stop the bastard responsible for it all."

"Wait a second," I said. "Earlier, you said you told Citadel defence to shoot him down. Then you said they could've disabled the ship. Which was it? What did you say, exactly?"

"I..." Garrus paused for a moment, then admitted: "I told them to destroy the ship."

"Why?"

"There was no time to think. I had to stop Dr. Saleon. Once and for all."

"And that fulfills the whole 'serve and protect' thing... how?"

"Well..." Garrus paused again. "Yeah. Maybe that wasn't on my mind at the time," Garrus admitted, calming down. "I just wanted to stop him. That's all."

"Do you have any idea what happened to Dr. Saleon?"

"I sent out feelers from time to time, hoping to find something. I thought I found him a while back. He'd changed ships and changed his name to Dr. Heart—his idea of a joke, I guess. I told the military, but they weren't convinced.

"I got the transponder frequency for his new ship, but I just can't get anyone to check it out."

"You know, I do an awful lot of meandering and wandering," I offered. "If you give me the transponder frequency, I could check it out."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Garrus said gratefully.

That conversation was the missing piece I'd been searching for. Having the bad guy get away without any real sense of closure must've been festering inside Garrus for ages, turning his impatience with "unnecessary" policies and procedures into a powder keg, just waiting to explode.

Not wanting to be around when things blew up, I loaded the transponder frequency into the Normandy's computers as soon as possible. I tracked "Dr. Heart's" ship, the MSV Fedele, to the Herschel system in the Kepler Verge, just one stop away from the Attican Beta cluster.

It was quiet when the squad went aboard. No bad guys. No turrets. No crates to loot. Nothing.

The boredom lasted until we took a dozen or so steps into the main cargo hold, and encountered... well, zombies, for lack of a better word. Greyish skin. Sunken eyes. Gaping mouth. Annoying tendency to charge at you and gnaw at your tender digits. Yeah, zombies.

Of course, zombies don't usually have long claws, spit acid, or explode in a puddle of green goo when you kill them. Guess they're more like creepers than zombies.

"Looks like Saleon moved up from using his test subjects to clone organs," Garrus commented over the roar of his assault rifle.

"Looks like it," I replied between pistol shots. I was more concerned about the info streaming in across my HUD. It seemed that the kinetic barriers of our hardsuits didn't do squat against acid spit, and our armour integrity was dropping rather precipitously. "Squad, fall back!"

We quickly retreated to the entrance to the cargo hold, and let the test subjects charge towards us. Whatever Saleon did to those poor souls, it clearly didn't include inserting a sense of tactics, because they kept bunching up and milling around the entrance. It was very easy for us to deal with them. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

After the last test subject dissolved into goo and our shields regenerated, we moved forward. It didn't take long until we found a salarian, hiding in one of the modules near the ship's bow.

"Thank you," he said gratefully. "Thank you for saving me from those... things."

"Commander," Garrus said intensely. "That's him. That's Dr. Saleon."

"What? My name is Heart. Dr. Heart," the salarian said, much too quickly. "Please, get me out of here."

"Are you sure it's him?" I asked Garrus.

"Positive," Garrus replied. "There's no escape this time, Doctor," he smiled coldly at the salarian. "I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time."

"You're crazy," Dr. Saleon cried out. He turned to me. "He's crazy! Please, don't let him do this to me."

"We'll take him in," I told Garrus. "Drop him off with the military."

"But... we _have _him," he said in a frustrated voice. "We can't let him get away. Not again!"

"If he dies, we'll never know what he's been up to, or how he did it," I pointed out. "We'll take him in, interrogate him, and he'll serve his time." Plus, it's something a man with my undeserved reputation would be expected to do anyways.

"I... okay," Garrus finally said reluctantly. "You're right." He looked at Dr. Saleon. "You're a very lucky salarian. You owe the commander your life."

"Oh, thank you. Thank you so very much," Dr. Saleon said sarcastically, his body tensing up.

He turned around and dove towards a nearby crate, grabbing a pistol that had been taped underneath it. Unfortunately for him, he was still completely within the line of sight of seven armed men and women, all of whom had their weapons out and were tracking him. He had just started to turn around when I put a bullet in his head.

"And so he dies anyway," Garrus grumbled, putting away his assault rifle. "What was the point of that?"

"You can't predict how people will act, Garrus. But you can control how you'll respond. In the end, that's what really matters."

I don't know where that piece of righteous crap came from, but it seemed to convince Garrus. "Yeah," he said thoughtfully. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Commander." Clearly, he hadn't faced a lot of con artists on the Citadel. He shook his head, as if to clear some mental cobwebs. "Well, I guess we're done here."

Not quite. Still had to loot the ship. Not that there was much to confiscate, mind you.

Garrus seemed to find the closure he needed. There wasn't anything obvious about it. He was still as professional as ever on the battlefield, and as composed and courteous off it. But the way he carried himself, the way he moved around... it was like a krogan had been lifted off his back.

"Commander. I wanted to thank you," he said, the next time I visited the garage.

"What for, Garrus?"

"For everything. Taking me with you. Letting me be part of your team. I've learned a lot." Garrus paused for a moment before continuing.

"I've thought a lot about what you've told me. About not sacrificing innocents to achieve the goal. About finding the best way through, not just the fastest.

"And I've been thinking about Dr. Saleon too. I'd convinced myself that he deserved to die, but then I thought about why I wanted him dead. I realized it wasn't because of what he did to those people. That was part of it. But I think most of it was because he got away from me. He escaped under my watch, and I didn't like that. I let it become personal."

It looked like Garrus had done some soul-searching. Good for him, I thought. "So what are you going to do next?" I asked. "After this mission, that is?"

"Well, I'm going back to C-Sec," Garrus began. "I think I can make a difference there.

"I'll also re-apply for Spectre training," he continued. "But I'll do it right. I won't compromise myself to get there. If the people I'm sworn to protect can't trust me... well, then I don't deserve to be the one protecting them."

"I'm glad you see it that way," I said. "Keep that in mind when we meet Saren."

"Don't worry, Commander," he replied. "I will."

If only more people were like Garrus. My life would be a hell of a lot more pleasant. **(2)**

_

* * *

__(1): Few people would enjoy receiving the kind of attention Shepard describes. However, Shepard's career made him more prone to encountering that sort of situation. It explains why he went out of his way to downplay his accomplishments—even to himself. _

_(2): Naturally, Shepard fails to recognize that that statement applies to him as well._


	16. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Our first impression of Feros was ruins and dust. Lots of ruins and dust. According to what Captain Anderson told me, about two-thirds of Feros was cluttered with Prothean ruins. The limited free space and constant dust clouds made any colonization tricky at best. One wondered why the heck anyone would want to establish a colony here.

By the time the Normandy docked at the colony's port, Zhu's Hope, the squad was already assembled. I'd decided that Garrus and Wrex would be on my team, pompously designated "Team One." Garrus because, at the time, I was still trying to figure him out. Plus, it's always nice to have someone on your team who knows what they're doing; whether it's figuring out which end of an assault rifle to hold, how to take out an enemy from a hundred-plus metres, or how to hack a lock. As for Wrex, well, he could provide biotic support, and he'd be the perfect meat shield to hide behind. **(1)**

Kaidan would lead everyone else in Team Two. While he could technically handle tech or biotic support, he did have other concerns as team leader. Instead, primary responsibility for those functions would fall to Tali and Liara, respectively. Ashley was there to balance out what would otherwise be a support-oriented team, and give her some more experience in working with non-humans.

One might think it would be better to stay with the larger team, for safety's sake. The way I saw it, I'd have a better chance of staying alive if I filled my team with people who'd had the most combat experience, and thus, were more likely to kill the enemy before they killed me. Besides, both teams had a decent chance of holding their own, so it's not as if I was deliberately saddling myself with the team that would be taking point, and thus, encountering certain peril first.

As we left the airlock, I took my first look at our surroundings. A ramp led off to our right, then turned right again towards a set of stairs, which presumably would lead towards the colony. A man was waiting for us, so we headed towards him.

"We saw your ship," the man greeted us, getting straight to the point. "Fai... Dan wants to speak with you immediately."

"Who's Fai Dan?" I asked.

"H... He's our... leader. He... needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push."

Well, at least now we knew why Feros dropped out of contact. I was curious about this guy's manner of speech, however. It seemed a little... forced, for lack of better words.

Before I could explore that, the man continued: "Please," he said, gesturing over his shoulder. "Up the stairs, past the freighter."

Ashley, who was at the edge of our group, noticed something. "Look out!" she shouted.

It was too late for our greeting-party-of-one. The poor guy took a round in the back and dropped like a rock. Thankfully, he was positioned perfectly between two sets of crates, so our attackers couldn't get to us without taking him out first. By the time he fell to the ground, both teams had taken cover behind some crates.

"They're geth," Ashley reported. She tried to take a peek around Kaidan and Liara, but had to duck back before a hail of fire smacked her shields.

Tali was closer to the crates, so she didn't have to poke her head out as far to gauge the level of opposition we were facing. "Two shock troopers and three regular troopers approaching our position," she reported. "Looks like more geth at the stairs, as well."

Time to see if everyone remembered their team designations. "Team Two—covering fire. Team One, attack!"

Thankfully, everything went as planned. While Team Two laid down a burst of fire as a distraction, my team got into position. Wrex bowled the geth over with a blast of biotics, Garrus took out their shields with a tech mine, and then everyone—from both teams—filled the prone geth with lead. **(2)**

We moved to the ramp facing the stairs, where we faced some more shock and "regular" troopers, as well as a sniper or two. This time, my team laid down covering fire, Liara drew the geth out with a singularity and Tali worked her tech magic. Otherwise, we followed the same drill.

The stairs were a bit trickier. We faced a bunch of geth "hoppers." Specifically, a few sappers and a stalker. Their ECM jammers weren't that big a deal, since we could see them jumping from place to place. What was more annoying was the fact that their mobility made it harder for us to deal enough damage to take them out.

Eventually, we made our way to a courtyard of sorts. The majority of it was occupied with what looked like a crashed and partially disassembled Kowloon-class freighter. **(3)** What caught my eye, though, were all the barricades that were set up, with civvies hiding behind them. Civvies with guns.

Clearly, they'd been holed up there for a while.

As we moved past the barricades, I overheard one man order another around. "Head to the tunnels," he said. "Make sure they're secure."

"But what if there's geth there?" the second man asked.

"Are you saying you won't go?"

"No! I'll go. I'll... go."

We manoeuvred our way around the freighter, noting the smoke that billowed from random detritus set ablaze. For the first time, I noticed that some people were studiously concentrating on various pieces of equipment. Civvies who'd be better off keeping everything running than trying to shoot a gun, I guessed.

"But... I don't know how to use a gun!" This came from a young man, who was holding a gun with what looked like a grimace.

"Beat them with the end of it if you have to," snapped another man, possibly the one who'd forced the weapon on him in the first place. "Just don't let the geth by you."

Eventually, we came across a man who looked like he was in charge. He had deep frown lines carved into his tanned face, with smaller wrinkles and dark shadows bordering his eyes. He turned away from an armed woman in a hardsuit when he noticed us.

"Oh, Commander," he said, presumably noticing the rank insignia on my hardsuit. "My name is Fai Dan. I'm glad they finally sent somebody to help us."

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" the woman added bitterly.

"Arcelia!" Fai Dan scolded her. "Sorry, Commander," he apologized. "We've been a bit on edge since..."

"Watch out!" Arcelia interrupted. Now that no one was talking, I could hear some noises. Sounded like some kind of warbling modulation.

Based on past experience, I probably identified the noises the same time Arcelia did. She was the one who voiced it out loud first, though: "We've got geth in the tower!"

For the first time, I noticed the tower-like structure behind them, and the stairs inside it. A couple geth were methodically creeping down the stairs and towards us.

"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan cried out. Odd rallying cry, I thought, before dismissing it. I'd later learn how literal those words were.

Glancing around, I noticed that my team was closest to a nearby set of crates. "Team Two," I said, "move to the tower entrance. Team One," I paused to point at the crates, "rally by the crates and lay down cover fire."

The teams followed my orders, moved where and when they were supposed to, and fired at the geth without the need for further orders. The geth couldn't have done any better.

Wrex, Garrus and I had a clear line of sight through the tower entrance to the stairs, which were set perpendicular to the entrance. Any geth we missed were promptly mowed down by Kaidan's team as soon as they popped their flashlight heads out.

"Shepard," Kaidan said over the comm. "My HUD's reading a trio of geth further ahead, but it looks like we're clear for now."

While he could have just shouted the information at me, that would have alerted the geth as well. He knew that as well as I did. "Same here," I responded. "Team One's gonna join you at the other side of the entrance. Once we do so, move forwards and take up covering position at the base of the stairs."

It was only after the words came out of my mouth that I realized I had volunteered my team to head up the stairs first and be the first targets for any geth lurking about. Crap.

I racked my brain while Team Two moved to the stairs, trying to find some way to get them to move up the stairs in my stead. When my useless noggin came up empty, I reluctantly motioned Wrex and Garrus to follow me.

We were halfway up the stairs when I heard a panicked voice cry out "I don't want to die. Please don't—"

By that point, we had reached the top of the stairs, just in time to see a civvie drop dead in front of us, arms still raised in a defensive posture.

As one, Wrex, Garrus and I raised our weapons and opened fire on the quartet of geth standing there. No one bothered to pull any fancy tech tricks or do some biotic voodoo. I guess we were trying to impress the geth, though they didn't last long enough to appreciate it.

By the time we had finished, Team Two had joined us, covering our backs while we were occupied. One branch led straight ahead, up another set of stairs, which confirmed that the Protheans definitely built this place. The other branch led to the right. I chose the former, keeping the squad together. The HUD was starting to fill up with targets, and my paranoid streak was telling me I really ought to have as many guns as possible.

The stairs opened up into a semi-circular courtyard, most of which was occupied by an equally semi-circular stage that came up to my neck. A steep incline led up from the path we were on to the stage, as well as a small set of stairs for the athletically-challenged. There was also a geth dropship hovering overhead, presumably the source of the geth that were making their presence known with pulse fire. Lots of pulse fire.

"Team Two, move to the stage and deal with the geth up there," I ordered. "We'll cover you." While I wasn't fond of making myself a greater target, there was no denying that our chances of survival might be slightly higher if we were shooting down at our enemies instead of up.

Team One and I stayed on the path long enough for Kaidan to lead his team up to the stage, took out a couple shock troopers, then moved onto the stage. By then, Team Two had destroyed several troopers, and were busy draining the shields of a pair of recon drones that had the gall to swoop in. So busy, in fact, that they didn't notice a geth sniper's laser sight lining up on Tali.

"Take out the sniper," I snapped. Most people would interpret that to mean "open fire." Wrex, apparently, didn't share my faith that we could kill it before it killed Tali (or, at least, took out her shields). So he deliberately moved in front of her.

Better him than me, I guess.

"Lost my shields," he called out, as he unleashed a hail of fire from his assault rifle. "Shepard, you wanna help me out?"

"If I must," I said, opening fire with Garrus. "You looked like you were having fun, though."

"Not really," Wrex replied, looking up.

I followed his gaze, just in time to see several geth plummet from the dropship overhead. Including two destroyers.

"Now, I'm having fun," Wrex grinned.

"That makes one of us," I muttered, throwing a tech mine. Unfortunately, there were still enough geth milling around for their neural network to work: the destroyers had already spread themselves out, so my mine could only knock out the shields of one of them. Thankfully, Garrus was on the ball, and had done the same with the other destroyer, who was trying to sneak around and hit our flank.

Using my HUD, I assigned each team to a destroyer. "Team Two, I picked a destroyer for you. Please make sure it doesn't bother us."

"Roger," Kaidan replied. I was thankful he didn't say another word, as my attention was abruptly caught by "our" destroyer, who had taken the opportunity to charge at us. Wrex was on point, which meant that he only got a few shots in before they started wrestling hand-to-hand.

Garrus and I tried to help Wrex out, but the destroyer kept shifting position. We looked at each other in despair, then moved back to the wall, pointed our weapons in their general direction and waited.

Our break came when the destroyer ducked under Wrex's left hook and landed a solid punch to his gut. With a painfully audible crack, Wrex fell to the ground. The destroyer turned to face us, just in time to face a barrage of gunfire.

Two barrages, actually. Team Two had finished off their destroyer and any remaining geth stragglers, and apparently decided that shooting at our destroyer would be more satisfying than taking pot shots at the dropship. Which promptly flew away with a deafening howl once the second destroyer dropped like a rock.

"Wrex? Are you all right?" I asked.

With a groan, Wrex sat up. There was a large dent and several cracks running along the side of his hardsuit. "Damn geth got lucky," he grumbled.

Garrus walked over and extended a hand. With a glare, Wrex batted his hand aside. "Don't need your help, C-Sec," he snapped. He tried to get up, managed to rise a few centimetres, and then slumped back. Apparently, the medical microprocessors were still working on patching him up.

Wrex looked around, but Garrus was the closest. Might've had something to do with the text message I sent over Kaidan's private channel, ordering him to keep Team Two where they were. With a sigh, Wrex glared at Garrus. "Well?"

"Oh, now you want my help, krogan?" Garrus retorted, crossing his arms.

I rolled my eyes. Of all the times for Wrex and Garrus to remember that their respective species weren't on the best of terms. Of course, Wrex was in a somewhat embarrassing situation. Still, I didn't have time for this...

And that's when a devious idea entered my head. With a grin, I accessed my omni-tool's audio files, and forwarded a specific file to Wrex and Garrus, which automatically started playing as soon as it loaded itself onto their hardsuits.

"What the hell is that?" they cried in unison, looking around. Kaidan's team looked blankly at them, not knowing what I'd done. After a few seconds, the entire squad realized that I wasn't looking as clueless as they were, and gave me their full attention.

"A sample of a very annoying twentieth-century Earth song," I replied. **(4) **"One that will be continuously playing through your hardsuit speakers if you don't start acting like soldiers."

Judging by the twin glares that were suddenly directed my way, I made my point. Garrus reluctantly helped Wrex up. It took a few tries to lift his bulk off the ground, but Garrus eventually succeeded.

"Commander, I recommend we apprise Fai Dan of the situation," Kaidan said. "He'd probably be happy to know we repelled that attack."

"He is the closest thing left to proper channels," Garrus agreed.

"Let's go," I replied.

As I led my squad off, Garrus couldn't help but ask. "Commander?"

"Yeah?"

"What exactly is a 'Barbie girl'?"

* * *

Fai Dan and Arcelia seemed happy to see us when we returned with the good news. Well, Fai Dan was, at least.

"The tower's secure," he greeted me. "Thanks to you, Commander."

"I'm just glad your colony is safe," I replied, barely plastering on Hero Smile #1 (Humanity's Best, Bravest and Brightest) in time.

Fai Dan didn't notice the lapse. "I appreciate your concern..." he replied, pausing long enough to emphasize that point before adding "and your efforts against the geth."

"They may have been slowed down, but they'll be back. They _always _come back," Arcelia said.

"What are the geth looking for, anyways?" I asked.

"We don't know what they're after," Fai Dan sighed, raising his hands up in a gesture of helplessness. "They came, they attacked us. That's all we know. Their main base is at the Exogeni headquarters. A good place to start looking if you want answers."

"Exogeni?"

"It's the company most of us worked for before the attack," Arcelia explained. "They fund this colony. The skyway leads directly to Exogeni headquarters. You can't miss it."

"Of course, there's an army of geth between here and there," Fai Dan added.

"I didn't expect this would be easy," I replied wryly.

Fai Dan offered a faint smile, before turning to survey the area. "Then, maybe I can get this colony operational again."

"Would you happen to know anything about the defences the geth have set up?" I asked.

"Not really, but I'll wager it's a lot more fortified than the command post you just took out." Fai Dan turned his companion and raised an eyebrow. "Arcelia?"

"They landed at least one geth ship at Exogeni, and I've seen large walking tanks on the skyway," Arcelia said soberly. "Expect a hard fight."

Moving on, I asked them what else they could tell me about Exogeni.

"Without them, we wouldn't be stuck here," Arcelia replied bitterly.** (5)**

Fai Dan was a bit more informative. "They specialize in colonization. In return for bankrolling the colony, we work for them. Their main goal is the retrieval of valuable artifacts or resources."

"Expect there isn't anything here," Arcelia burst out in frustration. "Or if there is, we didn't find it."

"I wonder if that's what the geth are looking for?" I mused.

"Perhaps," Fai Dan sighed. "As she said, we never found anything of value."

"Of course, the geth could know something we don't," Arcelia said darkly.

"Tell me about the colony," I said, motioning around us, in an effort to change the subject.

"Life is hard and often brutal, even without our current problems," Fai Dan replied. "Colonial Affairs assured us we'd be beneath the notice of any raiders. I guess they weren't counting on the geth."

Unexpectedly, a wistful look spread over his face. "But, despite everything, there's something tranquil about this place. Unlike anything I've experienced before."

"How big was the original Feros colony?" Garrus asked curiously.

"We were nearly a thousand at the main site, two hundred more at my outpost," Fai Dan said. "When the first wave obliterated our defences, we fell back to Zhu's Hope."

"The Normandy isn't huge, but we could airlift you out," I offered.

The reply was immediate. "The geth fighters are too dangerous. And I won't be driven off this world." Fai Dan's tone became more... longing. "It is... our home. There is a chance for growth here that is simply not available on other worlds."

Kaidan scratched his head. "What do you need done to get this colony back on its feet?"

"We need those geth destroyed," Arcelia said, subconsciously looking over her shoulder.

"Arcelia's right," Fai Dan agreed. "There are still geth in the tunnels. We also have more mundane problems, like food, water and power."

"Is there anything we can do about that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure where we stand on those matters," Fai Dan confessed. "You should talk to the people overseeing them."

After getting their names, I said goodbye to Fai Dan and Arcelia. "Kaidan," I said, turning to him, "take your team and head around the outpost. See if you can find any of those people. Wrex, Garrus and I will check out the freighter and the immediate area."

There wasn't anyone else around, other than Fai Dan and Arcelia, so it wasn't long before we entered the freighter. We'd only taken a few steps before we overheard a conversation coming from one of the modules.

"There, there, dear," a man said. "You'll get through this. Just relax."

"My headaches... are getting better," a woman responded. "I just have to... stop thinking... about the past."

Curious, I stepped in. A woman was lying down on a cot, with a man sitting beside her.

"Hello, offworlder," she smiled. "I'm glad that we aren't totally forgotten by the rest of the galaxy."

"Dear, please, try to rest," the man urged. "You're... you're not ready to speak."

"But they should know..." the woman began before wincing in pain. "I... unh... I mean, they are very important." A look of relief spread over her face. "Yes, that's better."

"Is there anything we can do for you?" I asked.

"I am... fine," the woman reassured us, albeit with an effort. "I just need to try to think clearly. It's just a lingering pain from... from the last attack. I'll be fine."

"I can't see any significant damage, but something's clearly causing her pain," Garrus whispered. I nodded in agreement.

"Please let her rest," the man pleaded. "She just needs... rest."

Gesturing with my head, I motioned him to follow us outside into the corridor.

"You'll have to forgive my wife," the man apologized. "Calantha is not in her right mind. She just needs to relax and accept what's happened."

"What happened to your wife, Mister...?" I prompted him.

"Hollis Blake," he introduced himself. "The constant attacks have strained us all. She'll adapt. We all have."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Garrus asked.

"No. She just needs... time. Time to absorb everything. We'll be fine."

Somehow, I didn't believe him. Maybe it was the way his smile seemed forced. Time to start asking some more questions.

"Do you have any idea what the geth were looking for?"

Hollis ran a hand over his head. "Uh, I can't think of any reason for an attack like this. We just wanted to build a home."

"What do you do here?" I continued.

"I'm a medic. Or I am since the doctor died. I've tried my best since she was killed."

"Tell me about the colony."

"I can't tell you much about that. You'd best ask Fai Dan if you really must know."

And that's when things started going weird.

"Why can't you tell me?" I asked casually. "I just want to know about the colony."

"Fai Dan is our leader. Who better to ask questions about the colony?" Hollis answered, as if it should have been perfectly obvious.

I gave up on that subject for the time being and moved on. "Do you know anything about this planet?"

Hollis shook his head. "Just what I was told by Colonial Affairs. It's a little...different from what they claimed," he said darkly. Then he plastered a smile on his face. "It's not all bad, though. When the geth are gone, we'll have a chance to create something more spectacular than before."

"Well, thank you for your time. We have to go."

Hollis nodded and went back to his wife. As we left, he shouted out "Please, do what you can to stop the attacks."

Down the corridor, we saw another man tapping on a datapadd, and shaking his head at the results. He looked up when he saw us approach.

"You're the one that repelled that last wave," he identified us.

"That's right," I replied. "I'm Commander Shepard. These are my companions, Garrus Vakarian and Urdnot Wrex."

"Davin Reynolds," he responded. "They'll be back," he said, looking over his shoulder. "And if the geth don't kill us, we'll die of hunger soon enough."

"Are you doing anything to remedy the situation?" I asked.

"I need to boost rations with varren meat, but it's too dangerous. The alpha varren—he's huge and he's mad. Rabid, maybe. Totally uncontrollable. I can't do anything until he's dead."

"Varren?"

"They came from my homeworld, Shepard," Wrex butted in. "Very adaptable. Survivors. Like us."

"Krogan seem to like bringing them along when they go to other worlds," Davin explained. "The varren inevitably get loose and establish themselves on the new worlds. They breed rapidly and are extremely vicious."

"Just like us," Wrex said happily. "Well, except for the breeding part. I had a varren as a pet once. Best friend I ever had. Even if she did have a bad habit of ripping chunks out of my legs."

"What happened to her," Garrus asked curiously.

"Ate her," Wrex shrugged. "She was getting old and lame. Besides, I was hungry."

"We used to go down into the caverns branching off from the maintenance tunnels to hunt varren," Davin added. Once we got the hang of things, we were getting a steady stream of meat. Even developed a number of good recipes. Though between the alpha varren and the geth, we've had to put varren hunts on hold." Then he shrugged. "On the other hand, the varren are so vicious, they'll attack anything. Even those synthetic bastards."

"Tell me about yourself" I prompted Davin.

"What's to tell? I came here with my wife Greta, looking for adventure, a new life together. This isn't exactly what we signed up for," he added dryly. "Of course, it would be much better without the geth. We were really starting to enjoy the colony before they came."

"Tell me about Zhu's Hope."

"The colony is growing, or it was... But you should speak with Fai Dan. He is our leader."

I felt like I was experiencing a case of déjà vu. "Why should I speak to Fai Dan? Why can't you tell me?"

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Davin said firmly. "Speak with Fai Dan."

Giving up on getting anything else out of him, I left Davin and led my team out of the freighter. Looking around, I saw Kaidan's team chatting with some lady next to a large pipe of some sort. There were various men and women on guard for another assault, or running back and forth on some errand or other. And there was a salarian, tapping on his omni-tool nearby.

"Hi there," I greeted him.

"Commander," he replied. "I was told to make my supplies available to you, if you wish."

"What's your name?"

"My full name is Goro II Heranon Mal Dinest Got Inoste Ledra. Humans usually employ surname and given name: Inoste and Ledra in my case."

"Why is your name so long?" I asked curiously.

"We are named for our origins," he replied. "Gorot II is my homeworld; Heranon, my clan's country. Mal Dinest and Got are the city and district where I live."

"What's a salarian doing on a human colony?" Garrus asked.

"This salarian goes where the credits are. Or I did. A well-stocked freighter can be a profitable investment on a new colony. But once I was here, I decided to stay on. The colony life... grows on you... after a while."

My turn to ask a question. "What can you tell me about Zhu's Hope?"

"A fascinating place, by all accounts. Though the geth have made it treacherous."

No kidding.

Ledra seemed to brighten up as a thought occurred to him. "You might like it here too, if you gave it a chance, Commander. I never thought I'd stay in one place for long, but here... I will stay here."

"Why?" I asked.

"I can't give you an answer, Commander. At least, not one you would understand."

Of course not. And now, just wait a bit...

"Why not try asking Fai Dan? Maybe he can tell you what I can't."

... and there it is.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I quickly scanned his supplies. Not surprisingly, there wasn't much there, so I said my goodbyes and headed off. Kaidan was done as well, so I motioned for everyone to meet up. Glancing around, I made sure no one was within earshot before asking for the sitrep.

"We talked to the people overseeing the water and power needs for the colony, Commander," Kaidan reported. "The water mains may have been tampered with, but the only way to find out is to head down into the maintenance tunnels. Also, the generator needs fresh power cells, but no one's been able to place an order, what with the attacks and all. I offered to see whether the Normandy had any spares, but apparently they're not compatible. Too new. What about you guys?"

"We can also cripple the geth and help the food situation by heading into the tunnels," I summarized. "It sounds like we can kill a couple birds with one stone." Seeing the blank look on Liara's face, I elaborated: "A human saying that means to accomplish more than one goal with the same action."

"I see. Thank you for explaining," Liara replied.

"Anything else, Kaidan?" I asked.

Kaidan hesitated. "Well... I wasn't going to bring it up, but since you asked... I was trying to make some small talk, asking questions about the colony. I got the same response each time."

"Let me guess," I interrupted. "'Speak with Fai Dan.'"

"Yeah. Pretty much," Kaidan confirmed. "You too?"

"Three times," I said.

"That's weird," Ashley commented.

"Or suspicious," Wrex grumbled.

"At first I thought the colonists were suffering from post-traumatic stress, delegating the tourism duties to the leader so they wouldn't be reminded of what they had suffered," Garrus said. "But this seems too coincidental. Too... rehearsed."

"Like everyone following the same script or singing the same song," I agreed. "Question is, why?"

I looked around at the others. None of them had anything to suggest. Neither did I, for that matter.

"Perhaps if we can help the colonists with their concerns, they might be more cooperative," Tali suggested.

"Worth a try," I shrugged. "At the very least, it beats listening to the same refrain over and over again."

"And we'll get to shoot something," Wrex added happily. "Don't forget that."

* * *

To access the maintenance tunnels, we had to head back up all those stairs in the tower. At the juncture where we went straight and faced the geth, we went right. Past an elevator, down the corridor, then down the stairs. Many, many, many stairs. I could tell the Protheans built this place, all right.

There was only one point where the monotony was broken, and we got to satisfy Wrex by shooting something. Geth, to be exact. For once, I didn't get to play the hero. After all, heroes arrive in time to save the damsel in distress _before _she gets killed.

Aside from that, it was pretty boring. For once. Stone walls. Natural light. Not much to worry about.

The maintenance tunnels were quite similar at first. They were well lit, thanks to the regularly placed light fixtures that somehow survived all the shenanigans the colony had experienced. Clean, too. No piles of refuse or overgrowths of flora spilling over. No puddles of water or less pleasant fluids flooding the floors. The only thing marring the otherwise tidy tunnel was the cave-in that we found about a hundred metres in, and even that could be bypassed by a side tunnel.

Naturally, that side tunnel had some geth stragglers. Just in case we were getting complacent.

Team Two was on point, so they found some cover, next to a panel of some sort. While they lay down covering fire, I led Wrex and Garrus to a nearby half-wall. Once both teams were in position, we fired bullets, tech mines and biotics at the half-dozen geth that were shooting at us. While the geth themselves made use of available cover, and created some of their own, they really weren't much of a problem—mainly because most of them were only basic troopers. **(6)**

I'll admit, I was starting to feel a bit cocky... and then I noticed the geth destroyer. It was still standing amidst the broken bodies of its brethren, despite enduring gunfire for almost a minute. A quick scan with my suit's sensors indicated that we'd finally taken out its shields. Which, one would think, would indicate a quick and happy resolution.

Then the destroyer started charging at us.

"Kaidan," I yelled.

"On it," he yelled back, throwing his arm out and making a gesture of some sort. A "ripple" leapt from his arm and flowed towards the destroyer, briefly distorting the air as it moved. The destroyer ran right into the biotic attack...

...and was promptly knocked back several metres, tripping over a dead shock trooper and falling to the ground.

That bought us enough time to severely damage it. By the time it climbed to its feet, we only needed a few more shots to send it back down. Permanently.

Now that we had a spot of breathing room, I examined the panel that caught my eye earlier. It had a few buttons, a large lever, and a clear pane of glass, behind which held a fluid that looked suspiciously like water. Playing a hunch, I reached out and pulled the lever down.

We heard a click, a KA-THUNK, and then saw the water flowing.

"That must be one of the mains for the water system," Kaidan said excitedly.

"Which means we need to find the others and activate them as well," Tali added.

"Over here," Liara called out. She was at the other end, which linked back to the main maintenance tunnel. "There's another valve."

We walked over and turned that one on as well. Tali stayed by it for a minute, checking the readings, then stood up.

"The water system has not been completely restored," she reported. "It looks like there's one more water main to re-activate before normal functions are restored."

"Why were they deactivated in the first place," Liara asked, a bewildered expression on her face.

"Perhaps the geth turned them off when they gained control of the tunnels," Garrus suggested. "To lay siege to the colonists."

"Sure," Ashley agreed. "If they can't kill them directly, they can wait for dehydration to finish the job."

"Well, then," I said, "why don't we spoil their plans?"

We stepped back out into the main maintenance tunnels, looked ahead... and let out a collective groan.

Before us lay _another _cave-in. Marvellous, I thought.

Slowly, we headed toward it. We had made it halfway when we ran across an intersection of sorts. To our left lay a recess in the wall with a door at the end. A ramp extended from the right to another door. Beyond that, I could glimpse another side-tunnel, which bypassed the cave-in.

Glancing at the squad, I noticed the majority of Kaidan's team was on the left. Made my decision a bit easier: "Kaidan, take Team Two and check out the door to your left. Team One'll go right."

Wrex, Garrus and I had almost made it to the door when we heard gunshots. Whirling around, we saw Team Two firing away.

"Kaidan?"

"Not now," he yelled back. A few seconds later, the firing stopped, and he opened the comm again.

"Sorry, Commander. There's a pack of varren over here. We drove them off but..." he stopped briefly as another round of gunfire began. "...well, they seem very tenacious," he finished, presumably after Team Two drove them off again.

"Need a hand?" I asked.

"No, I think we're fine," he responded. "Wrex, varren come from your world. Any suggestions?"

Wrex shrugged. "Keep firing until they stop moving?"

"Thanks," Kaidan said dryly. "We'll try to keep that in mind."

"We'll move on, then," I decided. "Keep your comm links open."

"Understood, Commander. Good luck."

We opened the door, and promptly saw the pair of geth shock troopers on a ramp above us. Hard to miss, given that they opened fire as soon as they saw us. The first geth went down quickly. It was when we were switching to the second geth that things got a bit more complicated. Mostly because two assault drones and a rocket drone chose that moment to swoop down.

"Garrus," I began, intending to have him focus on the remaining shock trooper while Wrex and I handled the drones. However, he had already begun firing at the drones.

Giving in to the overused adage about the survival rates of plans when encountering the enemy, I switched my orders. "Garrus, Wrex; take out the drones."

I reminded myself of the silver lining in this change of plans: my teammates were in front, so they'd take the brunt of any damage, particularly from that rocket drone. By comparison, I just had one measly target to worry about.

Checking my shield status, I decided I had plenty of time to bring out my sniper rifle. I zoomed in on the shock trooper, and was about to pull the trigger when it fired an overcharged pulse my way.

In the blink of an eye, my shields were taken out. So much for having plenty of time, I thought ruefully.

Taking a second for my body to stop swaying from the recoil, I centred on the shock trooper again. Exhaled. Pulled the trigger. Watched with much satisfaction as the shock trooper went down.

Not wanting to run around without my shields any longer than I had to, I rerouted my hardsuit's power flow to kick-start shield regeneration. Then I looked forward to gauge how Wrex and Garrus were faring.

I was pleased to see they were handling things quite well. Two of the drones, including that potentially worrisome rocket drone, were down for the count. The remaining drone was so badly damaged; it was probably overkill to finish it off with my sniper rifle.

"Either those geth were lying in ambush for any random passerby, or they were guarding something up ahead," Wrex grunted.

"Guess there's only one way to find out," Garrus said.

Sadly, his words proved prophetic. We "found out" that the corridor we were in led to a large chamber. A chamber with not one, not two, but _three _krogan lying around.

"And here I thought _good _things come in threes," I muttered, before turning to Wrex and Garrus. "Guys? Don't freak out."

"Huh?" Garrus said.

"Three krogan, round the corner."

Garrus blinked. "That could be a problem."

"Thoughts, Shepard?" Wrex asked.

"See if we can get them to follow us. Preferably one of them, to draw them out. But even if they all follow, they'll be bottlenecked in the corridor."

"We'll also be bottlenecked in the corridor," Garrus pointed out.

"True. But we can always retreat."

"So can they," Garrus said. I glanced at Wrex. Garrus followed my gaze and noticed the slightly disturbing glint in Wrex's eye. "Fair enough," he conceded.

For once, things worked out as planned. Garrus and Wrex bunkered up by some rubble halfway down the corridor, and I snuck forward. I waited long enough for one of the krogan to notice me and start lifting his shotgun, then ducked back.

Paying very close attention to my HUD, I saw one of the little red dots ahead of us start moving. A minute later, one of the krogan appeared.

Maybe it was because our gunfire concentrated on his head, and the flare caused by his shields reacting to his onslaught blinded him. I never found out. All I know is, he didn't put up much of a fight.

We waited, certain that the ruckus would attract the dead krogan's buddies. A minute passed. Our shields finished regenerating. Another minute passed. The kinetic barrier Wrex had summoned to give himself added protection wore off. Yet another minute passed.

Finally, I moved forward to try and repeat our earlier success, certain it wouldn't work. And yet, somehow it did. A second krogan followed and we took it down. One more to go.

I looked at the two dead krogan, and then looked at Wrex. "Seriously? We take them down, and their buddies don't bat an eye?"

"My people are kinda territorial," Wrex said. "Maybe their buddies were relieved that they had some breathing room."

"Huh."

And that was when the last krogan came barrelling into the corridor and rammed me into the wall.

The next minute seemed to drag on forever. Certainly, I'd swear that I was struggling with that krogan, trying to get enough room to fire my pistol. I sure as hell wasn't about to try and slug it out with someone that outweighed me three-to-one.

Mind you, I might have to resort to the futile gesture of going mano-a-krogan, as my Plan A wasn't working. To my relief, it was then that the krogan started floating upward, buoyed by a wave of biotic energy from Wrex.

"Thought I'd let you have some fun," Wrex cracked. He then thrust upward, letting loose another flare of biotics. Above us, I could see the krogan float, arms flailing madly. Then Wrex's latest attack hit him, and he shot off out of sight like a cannonball.

"Guess he won't be troubling us anymore," I said dryly. "Shall we look around?"

We managed to scrounge some nice items in the chamber. Some weapons mods here, a grenade upgrade there. Nothing too interesting. **(7)**

Now the transmitter hiding in a nearby alcove? The one receiving and sending transmissions on frequencies connected to the geth? _That_ wasinteresting. **(8)**

I suppose we could have hacked their signals, given enough time, and feed a bit of misinformation. Unfortunately, we didn't have that luxury. My paranoid streak was betting that whatever the geth were after was connected to Exogeni headquarters, and the sooner we got there, the better. Besides, given the nature of the geth neural network, there was a simpler and more effective way to cripple them.

* * *

After turning the transmitter into a smoking pile of scrap metal, we linked up with Team Two.

"Shepard, we killed several varren, including one that matches the description of the alpha," Kaidan reported. "We also scavenged some power cells from a damaged APC. Based on the model and serial numbers, they might be compatible with the colony's power generator."

"Well, we just took out the transmitter that the geth were using to coordinate their attacks," I replied. "Now, if we could just find that last water main, we could make everyone at the colony really happy."

Not that I care about that sort of stuff, but it looks good if it seems like I give a rat's ass.

Turns out, that last water main was a lot closer than we thought. It was in the next side tunnel. All we had to do was head in and kill a bunch of geth. Easy.

Curious to see how far the maintenance tunnels led, we kept going. We quickly determined that we'd reached a bunch of dead ends.

So it was strange to see a lone man just standing there, hanging around like he had nothing better to do.

"Hi," I greeted him.

"You don't want to be down here," he bluntly told me.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked.

"Nothing I should be, and anything I shouldn't," he cryptically answered. Then he cried out and collapsed to his knees. "That was a good one," he muttered, climbing back to his feet. "Very intense."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Just invoking the master's whip," he replied. "Helps remind me I'm still alive. You're here for the geth, aren't you? You're not the only one interested in those... things."

"Who else is looking for the geth?" I pressed.

The man shook his head. "Not looking for; looking to get rid of. They're athorn in the side of the—AAAAAGGHHH!!!" He abruptly broke off in a scream of pain. I swear I've heard soldiers with limbs blown off who were quieter.

He took a deep breath and attempted to continue: "Trying to get to the—AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!" He cut off with another scream, which kept going for another minute. Oddly enough, it sounded like he was... laughing. At the same time.

"This one is no longer fit," Tali whispered. "We should leave him."

"Is there anything I can do to help you? Do you even want help?" I inquired.

"Help me," he panted. "No. No one can help me now." He gritted his teeth. "I'd rather die fighting!"

"Fighting what?" I asked.

"Not that kind of fight," the man shook his head. "It's like running through a thorn bush. The more you struggle... Time's up. Company's coming. Ask Fai Dan. Ask him about the—aaahh!"

The man collapsed again, writhing in pain. Before we could do anything, shots rang out from the company that man was talking about. It didn't take long to put them down—they were only a pair of geth troopers, after all. I briefly considered doing the same to that man, as an act of mercy, but opted against it. Something was going on here, something other than the geth siege, and I was reluctant to do anything irreversible when I didn't know what the rules were.

Leaving the man behind, we headed back to the colony. On the way, we bumped into another round of geth.

"Guess that pair of geth we encountered earlier was a scout party," Ashley theorized. "Maybe the geth are trying to figure out what happened to their transmitter."

"Maybe," I agreed. "I know I would in their shoes."

"Same plan as before, Commander?" Kaidan asked.

"You know it," I replied. "Team One'll cover you. Let's go."

Wrex, Garrus and I got into position and laid down covering fire. Probably didn't have to, given the sporadic gunfire that was sent back our way. Still, the lack of imminent danger to my health and wellbeing—so rare to find these days—gave me time to select targets for each team. Just to expedite things.

After that, it was just tunnels, stairs, and more stairs—all the way back to the colony. We split into teams again to share the good news. In gratitude, the colonists paid us in credits and omni-gel. A welcome bonus for us—well, me, since I was in charge of that. In hindsight, it made sense, I guess. Since they couldn't spend credits on anything, they weren't very useful at the moment. Unfortunately, they still weren't forthcoming with any information about the colony.

Finally, the teams linked up again, and I led them to report to Fai Dan.

"I destroyed a geth transmitter in the tunnels. They won't be a problem any longer. Plus, we addressed the food, water and power concerns."

A look of relief spread over Fai Dan's face. "Thank you, Commander. We're in your debt. You've taken a great weight off my shoulders. I just wish I had such good news for every problem."

Now maybe I could get some answers. "We found a guy living down in the tunnels."

"That would be Ian," Fai Dan nodded. "He's very sick."

I raised an eyebrow. "He seems to be more than just sick."

"He hasn't been the same since the attack. We tried to help him, but he wouldn't listen to us. I can't help my people if they won't listen, Commander."

Fair enough, I guess. Ian did seem determined to get away from the colony and fight his battles, whatever they were, on his own. Maybe there was a reason, though, since he was in crippling pain and everyone else seemed to be dosing on happy pills. And while I was on that train of thought: "Some of the colonists are acting strange."

"We're a close-knit group, Commander. Most of us have lost loved ones, family, friends..."

"These aren't trained soldiers," Arcelia butted in. "Nobody taught us how to deal with the horrors of war."

"This is our home," Fai Dan continued. "We've watched the geth slowly destroy everything that is important to us. Don't judge us too harshly."

True, I suppose. But this was the first time where the 'horrors of war' made everyone refuse to answer certain questions and refer the interviewers to a specific person.

Garrus tried his hand for a few minutes, but he couldn't get any information out of Fai Dan either. Short of showing our hand and flat-out stating that something was seriously wonky, there wasn't much either of us could do.

In the end, we said our goodbyes and headed off to the tower to start our trek to Exogeni headquarters. Hopefully, something there would shed some light on the situation.

And if not, we were bound to find something to shoot. Especially with my luck.

* * *

_(1): A term synonymous with the phrase "cannon fodder," or someone considered expendable. In this case, however, Shepard meant the term literally. _

_(2): According to the AAR, the geth were technically filled with a mixture of Inferno Rounds, Snowblind Rounds and Sledgehammer Rounds. _

_(3): While an uncommon practice, the modular nature that made it easy to rearrange the configuration of Kowloon-class freighters also made them ideal to establish ad-hoc living arrangements, as was done on Feros. _

_(4): That song is apparently called "Barbie Girl," by a Danish musical group known as "Aqua." I made the mistake of listening to it once, so I sympathize with Vakarian and Wrex._

_(5): In his official logs, Shepard revealed that he talked to Arcelia Silva Martinez afterwards, and found out that she was a "rent-a-cop" from Exogeni who was originally hired to "keep kids writing graffiti on the walls." Her inexperience and lack of preparedness for a military assault, coupled with feelings of abandonment by the Alliance, led to her marked display of negativity and hostility. _

_(6): Some geth had the ability to generate mass effect barriers, which manifested as two-dimensional, hexagonal, translucent shields, for additional protection. _

_(7): Given Shepard's enthusiasm for acquiring these items, I somehow doubt that._

_(8): The hardsuit sensors of Shepard's team likely detected ongoing comm traffic during their engagements with the geth. While they may have been unable to decipher the communications, they were certainly capable of isolating the range of comm frequencies used by the geth, given enough data to work with._


	17. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Thankfully, we didn't need to climb too many stairs to get to the skyway—an elevator in the same corridor that led to the maintenance tunnels took us most of the way. We emerged in a hangar of sorts, on top of a platform that ran along one side. Colonists were standing there, hiding behind some barriers.

Looking around, I saw the platform sloped down to a driveway, one with a Mako. Perhaps we didn't have to walk all the way to Exogeni, I thought. Perhaps the universe was on my side.

As if the universe was listening, a bunch of drones chose that moment to fly in. Thankfully, one of the colonists saw them coming first and shouted out a warning. Between the colonists and my squad, it didn't take long to destroy the unwelcome intruders.

"I don't know how much more I can take," one of the colonists moaned, shaking like a leaf on the wind.

After a quick reassurance that we were going to see what we could do, we headed to the Mako.

"That Mako's been out of commission for the past few months," one of the other colonists shouted when he saw where we were headed.

"Garrus?" I asked.

"Already on it," he replied. Indeed, he was already crouching by the Mako, tapping rapidly on his omni-tool. "Software's out of date. Uploading current software patches now."

"You have backups of all the Mako programs on your omni-tool?" Kaidan asked.

"I'm paranoid that way," Garrus said absently, his talons a blur of motion over his omni-tool. "Okay, that's that. Running a diagnostic now… hmm," he added. "Looks like there's a problem with the engine."

Tali perked up and immediately joined Garrus at the Mako. Opening the appropriate panel, she stuck her head in and looked around. "Do the diagnostics indicate a problem with the primary fuel valve?" she called out.

"Yep."

Tali poked her head out. "It needs replacing," she reported.

Garrus tapped his omni-tool again. "I have schematics of all the Mako's components as well. If we had enough spare equipment to break down into omni-gel, we could manufacture a new fuel valve."

As one, the squad turned and looked at me.

"Already on it," I said, repeating Garrus as I pulled up the inventory of equipment I was lugging around. Thankfully, it didn't take long—I just had to select all the equipment that was Mark V or lower and break it down. "This enough," I asked, pulling out a container of omni-gel and handing it over.

Garrus took it from me and slotted it into his omni-tool's fabrication port. "Yes," he said, tapping a few keys. After a minute, he opened the omni-tool, pulled out a newly-formed fuel valve, and handed it to Tali, who promptly dove back into the Mako's innards. After a few minutes, she leaned out. "Done. Try it now."

I walked over to the Mako, got in and tapped the activation sequence. To my relief, the engine started running.

"We did it!" Tali exclaimed happily.

"Indeed. Now, on to the geth base," Garrus said. He paused, struck by a thought. "Not something an intelligent mind expects to say."

"Someone's probably trying to tell us something," I replied. "One day, we'll listen. Today isn't that day, though. Let's get moving."

The rest of the squad piled in and we headed off.

* * *

The hangar doors automatically opened as we approached, giving us our first look at the skyway.

It quickly became clear that driving along it would require a lot of focus and concentration. First, this Mako was even more sluggish than the Normandy's, if that was even possible. Second, the left side of the skyway had a very low fence—meaning it wouldn't take much to flip over the side and plummet to the ground. The right side of the skyway curved upwards in a circular wall of sorts, so one might be tempted to simply favour that side.

That brings me to point number three: there was a ridiculous amount of random debris scattered across the skyway, much of it sending up clouds of billowing smoke.

We had just left the hangar when we saw a geth dropship fly overhead. It paused long enough to drop two disturbingly large packages, and then flew off.

Zooming in, my heart sank as I saw two geth armatures unfold themselves and rise up. That would be point number four.

"Armatures!" I called.

"I'm on the MAC cannons," Ashley called out.

"I got machine guns," Garrus added.

"And I got the thrusters," I finished. "Time for the ol' hop-n'-shoot routine."

While we went through the 'ol' routine,' Tali was flipping through random comm frequencies, hoping to pick up something. Mostly for something to do: none of us thought anyone would be stupid enough to blab over an open comm channel. However, as we destroyed the first armature and moved onto the second, we were quickly proved wrong.

"The last batch went south," a female voice said. "What are they looking for?"

"I am picking up some sort of comm signal," Tali said, in case any of us were asleep at the switch. "It's too weak to pinpoint, but someone is definitely out there."

We started moving again as soon as the last armature dropped to the ground. "Any luck, Tali?" I asked.

"Negative," she replied. "More on the comm, but I still can't get a fix on it. Let me see if I can boost the signal..."

Her efforts were successful, as the woman's voice came in over the speakers: "Any sign of movement? Lizbeth could still be in there. It's only been a few days."

We went over a particularly bumpy part of the skyway and saw a dozen geth clustered up ahead—including a couple armatures and some rocket troopers. Ashley and Garrus opened fire while I tried to dodge the worst of the return fire. Thankfully, a MAC round or two got rid of the infantry, so we could focus on two targets.

Ashley and Garrus had things under control, and all I had to do was hit the thrusters and jump whenever I saw glowing rounds coming from the armatures' pulse cannons. So I indulged myself and looked around. Ostensibly, to gain some situational awareness of the area, see what else was going on, and formulate my next move. To be honest, though, I was bored and wanted something to do.

Beyond the armatures, I could see another door, similar to the garage door we exited. It looked like the skyway entered some sort of chamber or tunnel before continuing onwards.

"Shepard," Liara said. "If I am reading this correctly, there is still another geth in the area."

I looked around. Ashley and Garrus had destroyed the last armature, but the Mako's sensors were still picking up another geth. And, by the look of things, we were almost right on top of it.

"Yeah, I see the same thing," I confirmed. "Only one geth, though, and it looks infantry-sized. Team Two, stay in here and keep an eye on things. Radio us the second anything gets hinky. Team One, let's go out for a stroll."

Wrex stretched as soon as he stepped out. "Oh yeah, that feels good," he sighed.

"Glad to hear it," Garrus said irritably. "Now, could you move aside so Shepard and I could get out, too?"

"You didn't say the magic word, C-Sec," Wrex replied.

"While we're young," I piped up.

"That's three words, not one," Wrex pointed out. He conceded the point, though, moving so he was no longer blocking the doorway.

It didn't take long for the three of us to realize that we were right on top of the entrance to a maintenance tunnel that ran underneath the skyway. Naturally, I had to lead Wrex and Garrus in to satisfy my curiosity.

It was a bit cramped, but certainly not claustrophobic. Well lit from the natural light that was shining through. Much cleaner than the skyway.

That signal Liara detected turned out to be a lone geth trooper. One who didn't register our presence until we were a few metres away from it and were well within its line of sight. It had enough time to turn and let a round loose before simultaneous fire from the three of us shredded its flashlight head.

"At last. The geth has fallen. We can all breathe a sigh of relief," Wrex said sarcastically.

"It did seem somewhat anti-climatic," Garrus agreed.

They turned around and sighed. Probably because I was kneeling over, hacking away at a locked crate that was near the geth we just killed.

"A Mark IX pistol and a Mark VIII Banshee assault rifle," I reported.

"I must be getting spoiled," Garrus said. "Back in C-Sec, I would have done anything for those weapons. Now they seem... passé."

"Well if you want it that bad..." I offered.

Garrus looked at the Banshee, and then looked at his Mark VII Crossfire. One grade lower, but still a better weapon by far. "I think I'll pass, Commander. Thank you anyways."

The excitement over, we headed back for the Mako, got in, and drove forward.

Sure enough, we entered some kind of tunnel a minute later. Lots of rocks and detritus cluttering up the road, necessitating a rather slow and circuitous drive. Once again, a voice came in over the comm.

"We've got movement... some kind of vehicle. Not one of the geth."

"They must be close enough to see us," Kaidan said.

"Maybe we should pay them a visit," I said, bringing the Mako to a stop.

Off to our right lay a small ramp, just large enough for three of us to walk abreast. We moved in, Team Two taking the lead, with my team right behind.

We weren't sure what kind of welcome we would receive, so we took it nice and slow, covering the perimeter with our weapons. As we entered what looked like a large chamber, I saw our cautions were, for once, unfounded. There were a lot of crates scattered around, a few barriers set up, a couple guards, and several civvies.

"That's far enough," an Asian civvie cried out, pointing a pistol at us. The woman standing next to him stared at him with a mixture of disdain and exasperation.

"Relax, Jeong," she said dryly. I recognized her voice as the woman who we'd been overhearing on the comm. "They're obviously not geth."

"Get back, Juliana," Jeong snapped. He holstered his pistol and straightened up, attempting to put on a look of authority and failing miserably. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Commander Shepard," I introduced myself. "We're here to remove your geth problem."

"You see," Juliana said. "You worry too much."

"And you trust too easily," Jeong hissed. Juliana ignored him and turned to us. "I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet."

"No, Fai Dan and some of the members of Zhu's Hope are still alive," I replied.

Juliana glanced at Jeong, a look of anger briefly flashing over her face. "I thought you said they were all dead."

"I said they were _probably _all dead," Jeong corrected.

"They're not dead," Ashley reassured them. "But the geth have really pounded them."

"We know what that's like," Juliana commiserated. "Those damn synthetics are relentless."

"We'll try to keep them off your back," I reassured her, "but I'll need some information."

"What kind of information?" Jeong asked suspiciously.

Juliana rolled her eyes. "Ignore him," she told us. "You're almost there. They're holed up in the Exogeni headquarters, just a bit further down the skyway."

"Those headquarters are private property, soldier," Jeong butted in. "Remove the geth and nothing else."

"We'll do the best we can," I replied, sticking to my cover as the noble, yet obedient, hero. "Do you know what the geth are after?"

"I have no idea," Juliana sighed. "We certainly haven't found anything of value. Something Exogeni is keen to remind us of," she added, glaring at Jeong.

"We need to recoup our expenses," Jeong shrugged. "It's nothing personal."

"How did you get split up from the Zhu's Hope colony?" I asked.

"Most of us lived closer to the Exogeni facility. Zhu's Hope was mostly used as a port. When the geth hit, we scattered. Until you showed up, we assumed they were all killed in the first wave. If we had known they were still alive, we might have attempted to join them."

"They're fairly secure now," I told her. "Maybe you should do that."

"No, no, no, no," Jeong hastily said. "I don't think that's a good idea. We have no vehicles and the skyway offers little protection."

"Like the building we're in now?" Juliana asked sarcastically.

"Listen, our best hope is to sit tight and wait for company reinforcements. They'll come eventually," Jeong said confidently.

"Stay bunkered down until we get back," I said, surmising that there wasn't much more they could tell us.

"Commander," Juliana called out. "Before you go... My daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing..."

"They shouldn't waste time poking around," Jeong interrupted. "We can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the geth are gone."

"That's my daughter you're talking about!" Juliana said emotionally, clearly struggling to keep her anger in check. Can't blame her. If I had to spend my time cooped up with that corporate tool, I would've probably ground my teeth down to my gums by now. Or shot him. "She's still alive. I know it."

"Where is your daughter, Juliana," I asked.

"She was working in the Exogeni building when the attacks came," she answered.

"Oh, _yeah_," Jeong mocked her. "There are several places she could hide. For a short time."

"I'll keep my eyes open," I reassured Juliana, ignoring the corporate tool beside her.

Before we left, I noticed a man was watching us very intently. It looked like he wanted to talk with us, without looking like he wanted to talk to us. Long story short, the man, named Gavin, was a freelancer who'd holed up on Feros to pursue his work in relative freedom... without any nosy investigators around. He'd left some schematics for some prototype mods back at Exogeni headquarters in the midst of the chaos. It was too dangerous for him for him to retrieve them, but surely it wasn't too dangerous for us.

That prompted Tali to turn to me and ask exasperatedly "What is it about you that makes people think we enjoy getting in harm's way?" **(1)**

"My sunny disposition," I replied with a straight face.

There weren't any further interruptions, the squad left the chamber and got back into the Mako. We went up a twisting ramp before driving through a door, which automatically opened for us, and emerging back on the skyway.

Where we were promptly greeted by a rocket. Nice to see things hadn't changed.

The first geth welcome party wasn't that big a deal. We quickly dealt with them and moved on. The second one, though... that was trickier. Two armatures. And six large geth. They looked like destroyers, but they were red. And bigger. Tali later told me that they were "Juggernauts." They were kinda like destroyers, except they also packed short-range rocket launchers.

Somehow we got rid of them, though the Mako's shields were heavily drained. While we were waiting for the shields to regenerate, Liara noticed that there were still several geth in the general vicinity.

"Probably more geth hiding in the maintenance tunnels," Wrex guessed.

To keep things fair, I sent Team Two out. Sure enough, Wrex was right. There were about half a dozen troopers and shock troopers, but Team Two was more than capable of tackling them.

By the time they got back, the Mako was fully restored and ready to go. We went through two more sets of doors before entering a large cavern. A set of thick walls blocked the path halfway in, leaving only a narrow gap open. Clearly, we'd have to get out and go on foot.

Still, we made use of the Mako's cannons to take out whatever geth we could find first. There was just one more signature that the Mako could detect but, whatever it was, it was outside our immediate line of sight. Time to get out and walk around.

"The geth don't need much of an invitation to move in, do they?" Ashley asked wryly.

"They must want something from the Exogeni systems," Kaidan said. "Why else would they bother with all this?"

"I don't know," Tali answered tensely, "but resistance is sure to be heavy once we get inside."

Rock, rock, boulder, rock, pillar, more rock. No geth. There was a locked door several metres away, though. I led the squad over, hacked the door and entered.

Inside, a small corridor led to a room, where we could see a crate. Eager to see what was in it, I led the team into the room...

...or rather, I started to, then hastily moved back when I saw the geth armature crouched inside it.

I waited for the armature to blow us up into smithereens, but that never happened. It just... sat there.

"Tali?" I asked.

"Maybe it's running on some sort of guard protocol," she guessed. "Programmed to ignore anything unless it enters a certain radius."

"Well, if it wants to leave us alone, I say we let it," Kaidan decided. "Unless you _really _want to see what's in that crate."

I made a motion towards the crate, then grinned when Ashley and Liara reached out to yank me back. "Tempting but... nah. I'll pass."

"Another demonstration of human humour, Commander," Liara asked. I shrugged. "Something like that. Come on."

The squad headed back out into the cavern. I ordered the teams to split up and search the area. There had to be another way into the facility.

Rock, rock, boulder, rock, pillar, more rock...

"Over here, Commander," Kaidan called out over the comm.

Wrex, Garrus and I moved to join Team Two, who was clustered around a hole in the ground. We could see a corridor running beneath us, part of a basement level, I guess. Beyond, there was a very clear entrance, blocked by an equally clear kinetic barrier.

Kaidan followed my gaze and guessed what I was looking at. "I can't find a way to shut it off, Shepard," he said. "Hopefully, we'll figure out a way to do so inside."

"We'll have to," Ashley said, staring down. "That's a one-way drop, Commander."

Seeing no other way, I shrugged and jumped down the hole. I waited for the others to follow, then moved on.

The corridor opened up into an even larger cavern. It was dimly lit, the only sources of illumination coming from some wall sconces and a burning vehicle. We sidestepped a dead varren that was partially blocking our path...

...then ducked as a shot rang out.

"Damnit," a voice cried out.

Raising our weapons, we centred on the shooter. It turned out to be a young woman, shakily lowering a pistol.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I thought you were geth, or one of those varren."

"No harm done," I reassured her, glancing at my squad to make sure they were okay. Seeing that they were, I turned back. "You're safe now. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Elizabeth Baynham. Lizbeth for short. As for why I'm here... it's my own fault," she said, lowering her head in shame. "Everyone else was running and I stayed behind to back up data. Stupid, I know. Next thing I knew, the geth ship latched on and power went out. I was trapped. I tried to find my way out, but the way was blocked." 

"The kinetic barrier," I guessed.

"Yeah, they don't want anyone else getting access to the—" she stopped, belatedly realizing she'd said too much.

"Look, I'm here for the geth," I told her. "It's very important that I find out what they're after."

"I'm not sure," she replied, "but I think they're here for the Thorian."

"What's a 'Thorian?'" Garrus asked.

"It's an indigenous life-form. Exogeni was studying it," she said.

"What else can you tell me?" I asked her. "Do you know where I can find this Thorian?"

"I—I might be able to, but not with those geth crawling about everywhere," she responded. "Look, we need to get out of here, past that field."

"Any suggestions," Kaidan asked.

"Not exactly," she confessed, "but I think the geth ship is powering it. I've noticed the geth laying power cables everywhere. You could follow those cables, but there are geth all over the place."

"Why do you think the geth would be interested in the Thorian?" I pressed. Something didn't add up.

"It's just a plant. I don't know why the geth would care."

"Do you know anything else about the Thorian?"

"Not really. It's very old, though. Thousands of years, maybe."

"Tell me about yourself," I said, giving up on that line of inquiry. Clearly, she wasn't willing to spill.

"I'm just a research assistant for Exogeni," she said. "I came here with my mother. I don't even know if she made it out of here alive."

"She's with some others at the colony," I told her. "She's safe for now."

"She's alive?" she cried out in relief. "I thought I was the only one left. Please, Commander. Just get that field down so I can see my mother again."

"Don't worry, I will," I reassured her. "Stay put until I..."

I was interrupted by a low growl. Turning around, I saw a pack of varren slowly closing in. On some unseen signal, they charged.

"Weapons free! Fire at will!" I barked.

The next few minutes were spent frantically spent firing at the varren. Thankfully, their scales glittered off the back, making it easy to pick them out.

We'd taken out most of them when Liara cried out. Turning around, I saw the last one had knocked her over and was gnawing away at her leg. I ran over, planted my pistol in its eye, and pulled the trigger several times until it finally collapsed. I extended a hand to pull her up.

"Thank you, Commander," Liara said gratefully, taking my hand.

"You all right?" I asked Lizbeth.

"Yes, thank you," she replied. "The entrance to the facility is over there," she added, pointing to the door at the far end of the cavern. She suddenly reached down to her waist and pulled out a keycard. "Here," she said, giving it to me. "Take my ID. It should get you past any locked doors."

Nodding my thanks, I headed to the door. Thankfully, it wasn't locked.

We started going up a set of stairs. As we moved along the second flight, I heard a rough voice yell out in frustration.

"Stupid machine. Access encrypted files."

A minute later: "No, I don't want to review protocol."

We reached the top of the stairs. To our right, a narrow passageway led to a room with a bank of computers, a VI, and a very frustrated krogan.

"I am sorry, but I am unable to comply," the VI said politely. "Please contact your supervisor."

"Damnit! Tell me what I want, or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!" the krogan growled.

"Please contact your supervisor for a Level Four security exemption, or make an appointment with—"

"Stupid machine!" the krogan howled.

"If there is nothing else, please step aside. There is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console."

The krogan turned and saw us for the first time. Oh crap, I thought.

"Oh, good," the krogan said, almost gratefully, as it pulled out a shotgun. "I really need to kill something."

Raising my pistol, I braced myself for the attack. I was expecting something like a bunch of shotgun rounds or the krogan charging us. So I was a little surprised when the krogan raised an arm, made a gesture and bowled me over with a biotic blast.

One of these days, I'm going to have to learn to dodge biotics, I told myself. As I struggled to get up, I could hear my companions open fire on the krogan. By the time I was back on my feet, the krogan was dead. Good timing, I guess.

"Exogeni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of weapons while on company property is strictly forbidden. Welcome back, Research Assistant Elizabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?"

For a moment, I thought the VI was buggy. Then I remembered the ID Lizbeth had given me. Apparently, that was all the VI saw.

I wasn't the only one who figured that out. "Guess you're getting in touch with your feminine side, Commander," Ashley smirked.

"What information was the last user attempting to access?" I asked.

"Fetching data," the VI responded. "The previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Subject Species 37, the Thorian."

"What did you tell him?"

"I was unable to provide the previous user with any relevant data. Aside from lacking proper access, there has been no new data available on Species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation post at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles."

My ears perked up at the mention of Zhu's Hope. "What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the Thorian?"

"Species 37 is located within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost."

Things started clicking together, as my paranoid voice started drawing some tentative and disturbing connections. "Tell me everything you know about the Thorian," I ordered.

"The Thorian is a simple plant life-form that exhibits a sentient behaviour uncommon with other flora. Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of spores, it can affect and control other organisms, including humans.

"The Zhu's Hope control group has yielded interested results. Before sensors went offline, almost 85% of all test subjects were infected."

Thorian. Spores. Control other organisms such as humans. That definitely explained the wackiness that was going on with the colonists at Zhu's Hope. And to describe them as test subjects... "Are you saying Exogeni knew its people were getting infected?"

"It was deemed necessary to assess the true potential of Species 37," the VI affirmed.

"What else can you tell me about the Thorian?" I asked.

"Species 37 was discovered several weeks ago, when a small team was infected with spores while examining ruins near the Zhu's Hope outpost," the VI responded. The outpost was quarantined immediately and study of the infections began. Within 21 days, 58% of colonists exhibited altered behaviour. Within 28 days, 85%."

"Do you know how the creature controls its slaves?"

"The will-subversion process manifests as intense pain if directives are ignored. The effect is severe enough that subjects are soon conditioned against even minor thoughts of rebellion. Observation suggests the Thorian views its thralls in a utilitarian way. Care is apparently taken to avoid injuring them; much like a craftsman avoids damaging his tools. As long as no action is taken against the creature's objectives, the subjects are free to pantomime a normal existence until specifically tasked with something."

"So is it intelligent? Can I reason with it?" I asked.

"The Thorian does not exhibit the focused behaviour of a predator. The release of spores is an act of survival, not aggression. It does trigger advanced behaviours in the humans it enslaves, but we have yet to discover whether it recognizes—or is capable of recognizing—humans as more than tools. It is sufficiently alien as to defy classification at this time."

"Where is the centre of this thing?"

"The Thorian is present as a wave of tendrils across much of the lower surface of Feros. Observation of enslaved subjects suggests that there may be key clusters that are tended by thralls. Unfortunately, direct observation is limited or non-existent."

'Across much of the lower surface of Feros?' Geez. "What's the size of this thing?"

"The Thorian appears to be a diffused creature. Its cognitive abilities are centred in large nerve bundles, but it receives data from kilometres of meandering tendrils. We have discovered bundles approximately one metre in diameter, but they seem insufficient to coordinate the massive sensory potential it possesses. It may simply process such stimulation slowly, or perhaps there is a nerve cluster of a greater magnitude we have not yet encountered."

"You should contact Joker," Garrus advised.

Nodding in agreement, I activated the comm. "Joker." Nothing. "Come in, Joker." Still nothing.

"Damn it. That field's blocking us," I realized.

"We'd better drop that field and get back to Zhu's Hope," Kaidan decided.

"Agreed. VI, what can you tell me about the geth ship and the field it's generating?"

"I have limited data on the geth. They have effectively blocked all sensors within the facility. I have detected unusual power fluctuations, but am unable to determine the source."

"We need to find that ship," I stated. I was about to depart, when something occurred to me. "VI, please access 'my' personal files."

"Elizabeth Baynham, research assistant, Bio-Medical Division," the VI obediently responded. "Security Level Four exemption. You are currently under probation due to disagreements with management over established company policy. These sanctions may be lifted if your next evaluation is more agreeable."

"What triggered the probation," I asked.

"You were marked as 'combative' about the handling of the Zhu's Hope project, specifically regarding the handling of the infected colonists. As a result, you were tasked with monitoring the safety of the colonists for the duration of the observation."

Huh. That explains why she was so vague earlier. On the other hand, it didn't sound like she was a soulless corporate tool, either.

"Let's get moving," I decided. We still had a barrier to bring down, after all.

* * *

I was expecting lots of things here. Geth trying to shoot us—par for the course. Evil corporation trying to screw over the little guy for the sake of mapping potential profits—eh, sounds like a cliché, but why not?

Running into the geth version of Sunday service... yeah, I didn't expect that.

But when we entered this room in the complex, on a ledge about halfway up, there they were: two geth kneeling in front of this big glowing orb.

With those geth very much occupied in prayer, it was painfully easy for Garrus, Ashley and I to line up our sniper rifles and take them out. Afterwards, we jumped down to the floor below. I tried to convince myself that I hadn't just committed a sin or something. Seriously: isn't there a circle of hell reserved for people who shoot worshippers in the back?

"This place seems almost peaceful," Garrus said thoughtfully. "Do you think the geth were using this room as some kind of religious temple?"

"The geth blur the lines between organic and synthetic life. It's natural to assume they seek understanding from a higher power," Tali shrugged.

"Hey, they want to go find God? I'd be happy to speed them on their way," Ashley grinned.

Kaidan was more interested in the large claws that, based on the debris, punched their way into the building. From the outside. "Tali, is that what I think it is?"

Tali followed his gaze. "The geth use those claws to anchor their ship to the sides of buildings," she confirmed.

"The geth don't waste much finessing their landings. How do we cut the power if it's coming from the ship?" Garrus wondered.

"It will be difficult. We can check the other claws for weaknesses, but the geth are very thorough," Tali responded.

"Well, maybe we'll find something we can use at one of the other claws," I said. "Unless there's something here we can use."

We searched. There wasn't. So we moved on.

A few minutes later, we entered another room. More geth there. They fired at us, we fired back. Then we actually had a chance to look around. Nothing much. Two exits at either corner of the far end of the room. Well, there was a large corridor at the far end as well, but it was blocked by a huge kinetic barrier.

"Team One, we're going left. Team Two'll go right," I ordered.

A minute after we split up, I radioed Kaidan. "Team Two, do you copy?"

Kaidan's voice came back, a bit faint and fuzzy, but audible enough. "Team Two, here. You're kinda faint, Commander."

"Likewise," I replied. "Could be worse: I was afraid we wouldn't be able to reach each other at all. Guess comm signals work fine as long as they aren't trying to punch through the dropship barriers."

"Yeah, I guess," Kaidan said. "At least we can stay in contact, in case one team needs help."

Which was why I opened the comm in the first place. "Exactly. Shepard out."

After some more jogging, we came across another crate. More loot to liberate. Almost made up for the jamming signal that knocked out our sensors.

"Kaidan, do you copy?"

"Yeah," he whispered back. "We just found three krogan. We're going to try and get the drop on them."

"Looks like we're about to hit some more geth," I said. "They've got someone who's wreaking havoc with our sensors. Want us to back up and give you a hand?"

"I was about to make the same offer," he replied. "We'll be fine. Be careful, Shepard."

"You, too," I answered, before cutting the comm. "Okay, guys. Ready for some fun?"

"Always," Wrex grinned.

We managed to take down a couple shock troopers before the geth realized we were there. Then things got more difficult. They were already well protected, hiding behind random blocks of stone that were lying about. Even worse, they had some of those damn hoppers. Ghosts, to be exact. With them jumping around and knocking out our shields every other moment, things were getting tense, to say the least.

"Wrex, lay down covering fire," I yelled. "Garrus, we've got to take out those Ghosts. If our shields are perpetually being disabled, things are going to get real interesting."

"Right," they said in unison. Wrex stood up, disdaining any semblance of cover, and opened up with his assault rifle. That would definitely grab their attention. And with Wrex being so damn tough, he might actually survive something like that.

Meanwhile, Garrus and I took different sides of the room. Any Ghost that entered our zone was ours to light up like a Christmas tree. It took a while, and we were starting to feel the sting of the other geth weapons, but we finally dropped the Ghosts.

By that time, Wrex had finished off the rest of the geth. His shields were gone, too, and his hardsuit was definitely showing signs of damage, but he was still standing.

We heard footsteps behind us and whirled around. Thankfully, we managed to avoid filling Kaidan and his team with holes as well.

"Heard some fire on the way over," Kaidan said, looking around.

"Shame you didn't leave any for us," Ashley added.

"We did have those krogan to deal with," Liara pointed out. "Surely that would even the scales."

"And we found the data that... what was his name? Gavin? We found what he was looking for," Tali pointed out.

"Sounds like you had a productive search," I commented. "All we did was get into another fight."

Now that the squad was back together, it wouldn't take as long to search the room. Sure enough, there wasn't anything there. There was a lot of debris that blocked off half the room, probably from when the dropship claws punched through. Luckily, there was a stairway leading to a catwalk running along the wall. It looked like it would head over the debris. So that's where we headed.

Ashley shook her head as she got a better view of the claw. "Same as before. We don't have the ordinance to blow this claw."

"Let's keep looking," I decided.

At the end of the catwalk, another stairway led down to the remaining part of the room. I was a little hesitant to head down. For some reason, my paranoid voice was sounding an alarm.

Then I saw the geth destroyer walking around, a few shock troopers following behind it, and things made much more sense.

Even though my shields were fully restored by now, I was getting a little tired of having enemies put dents in my hardsuit. I paid good money for that, damnit! So, I took the lazy way out: I hacked the destroyer and let it attack its allies. While it was running amok, the rest of us headed down the stairs and took up firing positions. By the time the destroyer finished off the rest of the geth, we were ready to turn it into scrap.

After that, it was time to search around. Hacked a bunch of consoles and pulled up a few logs here and there. Nothing too interesting. **(2)**

What was interesting was the shuttle bay door controls. Apparently, the pressure valves controlling the bay doors were acting up. If we could get enough pressure building up without the safety overrides kicking in... I pulled down a few levers.

Sure enough, the bay doors slammed shut with enough force to shear right through one of the dropship claws. From inside, we heard a creak, which turned into a groan. Then there was silence... right up until we heard a very loud crash.

"Exceptional, Commander," Garrus exclaimed. "The field will be down. We can go deal with this Thorian creature now."

"This was my kind of mission," Wrex declared. "Kill a lot of geth, and end things off with a huge crash!"

Ashley grinned. "Damn! I would've liked to see the look on their pilot's face when that thing toppled."

"Keep your guard up," Kaidan warned. "There still might be a few geth inside the base."

"I repeat, Normandy to shore party," Joker's voice suddenly came in. Now that the barrier was down, communications must have been restored. "Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me."

"Is that you, Joker?" I asked. "What's going on over there?"

"We're in lockdown here, Commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way in. They're freaking out."

I guess once the geth were dealt with, the Thorian decided that we were the new threat. Still, if all they were doing was "clawing" at the Normandy... "They can't do any real damage, Joker," I assured him. "We're on our way back. Just hold your position."

"Uh... yeah. Okay. Well, we'll just wait right here," Joker responded.

"Okay, everyone. You know the drill," I told my team. "Let's move out."

We headed back into the room that had a corridor blocked by a barrier curtain. Now that it was down, we could go check it out.

Turned out, it led back outside the building. Where Lizbeth was waiting for us.

"We should get out of here," she greeted us. "I don't think this place is safe."

"Not so fast. I need some answers," I replied bluntly. "You knew more about the Thorian than you let on." We'd gotten the story from the VI, but I wanted to hear things from her perspective.

To her credit, she looked rather guilty. "I—I was afraid," she explained. "I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me. Told me I'd be next. When the geth attacked, I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs. I tried to tell them where to find the Thorian, but the power cut before I could send the message. I—I never meant for this to happen."

"Where is the Thorian?" I asked. "The VI said it's at Zhu's Hope."

"The Thorian's actually under Zhu's Hope, but the entrance is blocked," she clarified. "The colonists covered it with the freighter just before the geth attacked."

"But why are the geth after the Thorian? What could they want with it?"

"Well, it does have unique mind-control abilities. That was what Exogeni was interested in."

Before I could pursue things any further, Joker's voice came over the comm again. "Normandy to shore party. Come in."

"What is it, Joker?" I responded.

"We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter." Uh oh.

"Looks like they're headed your way." Oh crap.

"Thanks for the heads-up, Joker," I replied before cutting off communications. I looked at the squad. "You heard the man. Time to get moving."

Lizbeth wasn't privy to our conversation, but she caught enough. "I'm coming with you. I might be able to help." She hung her head in shame. "Undo the mess I helped create," she added quietly.

Figuring it couldn't hurt, I let her tag along. We piled back into the Mako, and drove off to face the geth music.

* * *

Well, Joker wasn't kidding. There were quite a few geth waiting to meet us. Couple Armatures. Several Juggernauts. Just in case we got lonely, I guess.

Still, we managed to get through in one piece. I was glad it wasn't "our" Mako, though. With all the damage it was taking, Garrus would've had one hell of a time patching it up. On the other hand, he might welcome it.

Anyways, we got back to the chamber where we'd left Jeong, Lizbeth's mother, and the others. As we got close, the Mako's radio started picking up chatter.

"...anybody. Is there anyone picking this up?" A woman's voice came in. I was fairly sure I knew who it was, but there was a ton of static.

"Get away from that radio!" A male voice broke in. Again, static prevented a firm ID.

"What was that all about?" Lizbeth wondered.

"We're getting close to where some of the colonists are hiding," I explained. "The ones who weren't at Zhu's Hope. Their comm channels aren't on a secure frequency."

The radio came on again. "This is Juliana Baynham of Feros colony. Please help us."

"That's my mother," Lizbeth cried. "Stop! Stop the rover!"

Before I could stop her, she jumped out of the Mako and bolted for the chamber where the colonists were hiding. Muffling a curse, I stopped the Mako and ran after her. Judging from Liara's gasp, I didn't curse softly enough. **(3) **

We caught up with her hiding behind some of the crates, watching what was going on. The rest of us knelt down. From what I could tell, Jeong was losing it. He was pacing back and forth, occasionally waving his pistol around. Juliana was trying to reason with him, I think. Good luck, I thought. He didn't deal well with people. At least, by his own admission, people who didn't help Exogeni profit.

"You can't do this, Jeong," Juliana said angrily.

Jeong gripped his head with both hands, as if that would make things clearer for him. "Everyone shut up! Let me think!"

"What's going on?" Lizbeth whispered at me. I shrugged.

"You won't get away with this," Juliana said. I'm surprised she pulled out that old hero cliché. That's something you'd expect so-called heroes like me to say.

"Get her out of here," Jeong snapped. A security guard moved to physically drag her away.

Lizbeth jumped up. "Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" she yelled.

Before I could stop her, she ran into the room. "Lizbeth!" her mother exclaimed, breaking free of the hired thug and running to embrace her.

"Damnit!" Jeong cried out.

My sentiments exactly. This is why I hate having civvies tag along. Most of them don't know what they're doing, get themselves and everyone around them in hot water, then expect the Alliance to swoop in and save them—while ignoring all the insults that they throw at them. People like Liara and Tali are exceptions to that rule, I'm afraid. 

Now that Jeong was paying attention, he apparently suspected Lizbeth was not alone. "Come out where I can see you! All of you!"

Not seeing much choice, I led my squad into the chamber.

"Hah, Shepard. Damnit!" he cursed. "I knew it was too much to hope that the geth would kill you."

Good to see you, too, I thought.

"I found some interesting facts about you in the Exogeni database," he continued. "I know what you did during the Blitz, but your heroics aren't needed here."

They never are, I thought mournfully, and yet, somehow, I keep using them anyways.

"What do you think you're doing, Jeong?" I asked.

"Communications are back up," he explained. "Exogeni wants this place purged."

"This is a human colony, Jeong," Lizbeth exclaimed. "You can't just 're-purpose us.'" **(4)**

"It's not just you," Jeong answered. "There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists."

Time for me to spill the beans. "You're here after the one unique thing Feros has: the Thorian."

"The what?" Juliana asked, looking around in confusion.

Lizbeth scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "It's a telepathic life-form living under Zhu's Hope. It's taking control of the colonists. Exogeni knew all along."

Juliana looked at Jeong with even more anger. "You won't get away from this, Jeong," she declared, repeating that old chestnut.

"So you keep saying," Jeong sneered. "But no one's going to miss a few colonists."

By this point, I had determined a possible way to defuse the situation. Kinda sad and pathetic, but it might just work with this corporate tool. "Can't you see the inherent potential in this colony? Think of the promotional opportunities."

Jeong looked at me like I'd lost my mind. So did everyone else, for that matter. "Opportunities? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Pitch it as 'Humanity against all odds.' You could even sell tickets to wealthy adventurers," I explained.

A grin slowly spread over Jeong's face. "Nice! I guess it could be left intentionally undeveloped to capitalize on its 'rough' appeal, right?"

"Sadly, you'd probably make a killing," Juliana sighed. "But, if it will let us get back to our lives, I'm for it."

"It might just work," Jeong said thoughtfully, counting the credits in his head. Then his face dropped. "Wait, no, the infected colonists will throw a bit of a wrench into that plan. No, no, they have to disappear."

"You can't just kill the colonists," Juliana said. "It's not their fault."

"If you kill only the Thorian, it might be enough to stop the infection," Lizbeth suggested. "Maybe."

Much as I'd love to do that, being the so-called hero and whatnot, but that didn't seem very likely. "It's worth a try, but I don't think I can avoid harming the colonists."

"There _has _to be another way," Lizbeth cried out.

"Maybe there is," Juliana said thoughtfully. "Come and talk to me before you leave, Commander."

"Just make sure there's no evidence when you're gone," Jeong added.

While Juliana and her daughter talked excitedly, I wandered about. Handed those mods off to Gavin and got some creds in exchange. Chatted with the guards there and tried to boost their morale. That sort of thing.

Eventually, I got bored and headed back to Juliana and Lizbeth.

"I'm glad you've decided to help us," Juliana greeted us. "I think there's a way to avoid killing the colonists."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

"I think you could safely use a nerve agent to neutralize the colonists."

I raised an eyebrow. "Releasing clouds of nerve gas doesn't seem like a particularly good idea."

"It's not like it's weapons-grade," Juliana said. When the sceptical look on my face remained unchanged, she elaborated: "The insecticide we use in our gro-labs contains trace amounts of Tetraclopine, a neuro-muscular degenerator. Lizbeth said the spores the Thorians use to control its slaves weaken their nervous systems. If that's true, it my act as a paralyzing agent."

"We might be able to adapt a concussion grenade to deploy it," Tail said thoughtfully. **(5)**

"Hmm... dodgy, but it just might work," Ashley conceded.

"I'll do what I can," I reassured Juliana.

"Excellent. Thank you so much, Commander."

* * *

After making the necessary modifications to our grenades and loading the gas, it was time to head off. We ran across another pack of Armatures and Juggernauts, but managed to take them out without blowing the Mako (and us) sky high.

Within a few minutes, we made it back to the garage. This time, though, the door didn't open as we approached it.

When we got out to manually open the garage, we noticed someone crouching by the door controls. It stood up as we approached. I had a minute to take a good look at it: grey, bald, and naked. Sunken, black eyes. Fingers elongated into large sharp claws.

It hissed at us before charging. We managed to take it out, but not before it lobbed a green spitball at Wrex, who was closest. The spit went right through his shields and hit his hardsuit, where it started sizzling away. On my HUD, I noticed an alarm go off as his hardsuit integrity dropped ever so slightly.

"What was that creature?" Garrus asked. "It certainly wasn't human."

"Okay, those guys, we can kill," I ordered. "No hitting the colonists, though, even if the Thorian makes them fire on us. That's what the gas grenades are for."

On my count, I slapped the door controls. There were about a dozen "creepers" crouching in the driveway. **(6)** On the platform above it, by the elevator, there were four colonists. Who promptly opened fire on us as the creepers stood up one by one.

"Back up," I barked. "Get out of the colonists' line of sight. Focus on those... things."

"And here I thought zombies were just for vid-flicks," Ashley said grimly, backing up slowly as she laid down fire.

"I never liked that genre, myself," Kaidan said absentmindedly, as he sent the closest creepers back with a burst of biotics.

The creepers actually weren't that bad. They had no long-range weapons, so they couldn't fire at us. They didn't really use their claws, either, no matter how long or sharp they were. It seemed their only strategy was to charge en masse and try to get into close-range, where they'd try and gnaw at or spit acid on us.

Eventually, the last of the creepers went down. Unfortunately, that still left the colonists. I was pretty sure that I couldn't throw the grenades that far, and I didn't have a grenade launcher. So...

Cursing, I told the squad to stay where they were. Before they could say anything, I charged toward the colonists. I gritted my teeth and ignored my HUD as my shields started dropping. Luckily, the civvies were lousy shots. Either that, or the Thorian spores were slowing their reflexes. Whatever the reason, I managed to drop a couple grenades at their feet and trigger them. There were a series of bright green flashes and a few puffs of green smoke. Hastily, I backed up before I breathed any of the gas in. The colonists stopped what they were doing, swayed... and collapsed.

I doubled over, propped my hands on my knees and wheezed. By the time I was done panting like a dog and stood back up, the rest of my squad had decided to disobey my orders and come after me.

"You sure you aren't part krogan, Shepard," Wrex grinned, looking at the incapacitated colonists.

I grinned back. "Almost looks like it, huh?" I answered, before motioning at the elevator. "Let's get moving."

By the time we got out of the elevator, we'd already formulated a plan. The squad would unleash hell on any creepers we saw. If the creepers were with the colonists, we'd get everyone's attention, retreat and take out the creepers when they followed. As for the colonists, well, Ashley and Wrex would follow me to get their attention and absorb a few bullets before ducking back. Hopefully, that would buy me enough time to make another suicidal dash and drop a couple grenades. With any luck, I wouldn't get paralyzed as well—what? There must be something wrong with my neurons if I'm _volunteering _for this crap.

Against all odds, my plan worked. The trickiest part was when we actually entered Zhu's Hope. The creepers were placed directly in front of the colonists, like a screen of some sort, and they didn't respond when we fired at each other. I had to physically run through the creepers before they reacted and started rising to their feet, at which point I would frantically dash back, unleash hell on the creepers, then sprint towards the homicidal colonists again to knock them out.

Finally, all the creepers were destroyed. All the colonists were safely incapacitated, some of them snoring away. I wished I could have it easy like that.

During my first time to Zhu's Hope, I noticed a console that appeared to control a crane that was attached to part of the freighter. On a hunch, I moved over and activated it. Sure enough, a part of the freighter lifted up, revealing a stairway that led down into some tunnels.

It was then that my paranoid streak started yelling.

Swivelling around, the squad centred their weapons on Fai Dan, who was staggering towards us.

"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head," he gritted. "You can't imagine the pain."

Slowly, he pulled his pistol from his holster. I was thankful that the squad was disciplined enough not to open fire unless fired upon. After all, our shields were fully charged and our armour was intact. He, on the other hand, was completely helpless. Well, other than the pistol.

"I was supposed to be a leader," Fai Dan added bitterly. "These people _trusted _me."

"Look, we know what happened," I said. "We don't blame you. None of the colonists blame you. We can stop this."

"It wants me to stop you..." he replied. "...but I... I won't..." He started to raise his pistol.

"Don't do it," I warned him.

"I won't," he yelled. Before any of us could do anything, he jerked his pistol and stuck it into his temple.

Judging by the sound I heard, and the body I saw afterwards, Fai Dan made the ultimate sacrifice so we could save the colony. I may have looked away at that particular moment, so I didn't actually see it, but that's what I put in my official report. 

* * *

After taking a moment to find a blanket to cover Fai Dan, we headed down several flights of stairs. Eventually, we hit the bottom. A long corridor led towards a chamber of some sorts.

"Okay," Ashley was saying. "We just need to find this Thorian creature and determine what it... what it..."

We had just entered the chamber, a large structure that spanned several levels. Around us, we could see the corridors of several stories, circling around us. Our attention was drawn to the large object dangling down in front of us. It was extremely large and roughly ovoid. Most of it was pinkish, almost flesh-toned, with a set of light beige plates in front. Several fleshy tentacles or tendrils dangled from it. It almost looked like a tumour. A really large, shuttle-sized tumour.

I suddenly remembered the Exogeni VI talking about "a nerve cluster of a greater magnitude". For some reason, I was pretty sure we had just found it.

"Keelah," Tali breathed.

"This was not covered by my training manuals," Garrus managed to say.

Not to be outdone, I added my own two cents.

"We are going to need bigger guns."

_

* * *

_

(1): Shepard once asked me that same question, in the same tone, after I granted him permission to speak freely. I said something about his competence, professionalism and his track record. He rolled his eyes.

_(2): Those log entries diverted Shepard to several additional missions, all of which involved combat. An ironic turn of events, given Shepard's preference for avoiding such situations._

_(3): A common civilian saying is that Alliance marines can be recognized, not by their body language, but by their colourful vocabulary. _

_(4): Exogeni was fond of using that phrase to describe taking a location or structure previously intended for some purpose, and then re-using it for a completely different purpose. Employees, particularly the cynical ones, often said that Exogeni was "a master of re-purposing anything and everything."_

_(5): Curiously, this is the only time during the entire mission where Shepard used his grenades._

_(6): The name Shepard used to describe these creations, one that quickly spread throughout Alliance records._


	18. Chapter 13

**Mass Effect: Accidental Hero of the Galaxy**

**Chapter 13**

We could have spent the next hour or so gawking at the Thorian. Personally, I was lamenting the fact that virtually all my grenades were spent, and that I didn't have a flamethrower or missile launcher at hand—odd, given how the Alliance makes us carry every other weapon around. I had half a mind to suggest heading back so we could jury-rig a solution. If nothing else, it would get my ass out of the fire. Unfortunately, the Thorian chose that moment to move, growing and contracting like it was trying to push something out. Sure enough, a minute later, someone or something slurped out of the Thorian's tendrils and landed in a crouch on the walkway in front of us.

Congratulations, I thought, it's a girl. Well, a green asari, anyways.

"Invaders!" she greeted us coldly. "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose."

Friendly woman, no?

"I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. He commands that you be in awe." 

"Fine. I'm in awe," I responded, deliberately sounding like I didn't give a damn (which I didn't, so maybe I didn't need to go to all that trouble). "Now then, you gave something to Saren. Something I need."

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone," the green asari said. "The Old Growth listened for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!"

So... Saren sacrificed a bunch of people to get some information, and then double-crossed the Thorian by leaving the geth behind to kill everyone on Feros. That sounded awfully familiar.

"Those are people you're talking about," I retorted, "not 'flesh.' "Release them, and tell me what I want to know. In exchange, I'll strike back at the one who betrayed you." It sounded heroic enough, I thought, and I'd hoped it would resolve the situation before it escalated.

Judging by the way the green asari glared at us, the Thorian wasn't that accommodating. "No more will the Thorian listen to those who scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long! Your blood will feed the ground and the…"

We never got to find out what else our blood would supposedly feed, as Wrex used his biotics to knock her off the ledge. Given what we'd seen of the chamber, I figured it would be a long way down.

"Damn asari. Always talk too much. Even the green ones," Wrex muttered. Belatedly, he glanced at Liara. "Present company excluded."

Liara had just enough time to accept his apology with a nod before Kaidan cried out a warning. A pack of those creeper things we had seen earlier were charging at us through a passageway behind us.

While they didn't have any guns, we quickly found out how annoying the creepers were in large groups. They had this annoying tendency to weave back and forth before charging, making it hard to fill them with enough bullets. Even worse, once one of them got up close to you and started gnawing away or spitting acid, you were effectively occupied, leaving one less pair of hands to tackle the other.

At one point, I dodged a lob of acid spit. I raised my pistol to fire back, and then got blindsided by another creeper. Cursing, I tried to back up and get some space so I could shoot my new friend. Unfortunately, the damn thing latched onto me like a bloody leech. Finally, I gave it a solid uppercut.

To my surprise, the creeper went down. It was like punching a scarecrow—the thing was definitely a lightweight. Still wasn't dead, but at least I could finally take it out with my pistol.

"Punch them to the ground if they get too close!" I yelled.

The rest of the squad heard me and promptly adopted the new tactics. Within a couple minutes, we'd finally destroyed the last of them. We stood there amidst puddles of steaming green goo, panting as our hardsuits finally started repairing themselves.

"Commander," Ashley called out. "Some sort of growth in here. Check it out!"

Sure enough, there was a large tendril in the room, with a slight bulge at one point, as well as several smaller tendrils anchoring it to the wall. On a hunch, I reset my hardsuit sensors to scan for bioelectrical signatures. Not as good as a proper medical scanner, mind you, but it worked: there was definitely heightened neural activity there. A smaller cluster of nerves, I guess. Or the plant equivalent, anyways.

Curious to see what would happen, I tore it to shreds with my pistol. Behind us, we heard a loud shriek.

"You stung it! I'm sure of it!" Garrus called out excitedly. "We just need to find more of those… things."

We moved past the neural node and up a set of stairs at the back of the room. Halfway up the stairs, we froze and raised our weapons. In front of us, crouched over in a fetal position, was a creeper.

Oddly enough, it didn't notice us, even though we were right in front of it. I even walked up and gave it a nudge. Nothing. Shrugging, we continued on our way.

We passed two more creepers in similar states before we reached the next level. Glancing back to make sure they weren't following us, we started to move forward…

…then froze as our HUDs started detecting contacts in front of us.

"Lock and load, people," I called out. "Keep them at a distance, shove them if they get too close."

The first couple creepers came into view and were promptly taken out. Then the next one came along.

It was that green asari again. Didn't we just kill her?

"Focus on the asari," I warned.

It was too late: I could already see ripples in the air around it. Heeding that paranoid streak that was screaming in the back of my head, I jumped to the side in time to avoid a biotic blast. Ashley, Wrex and Kaidan weren't so lucky, getting pinned to the ground. That left Garrus, Liara and Tali, who were bringing up the rear and had more time to react.

"Liara, get that asari floating!" I yelled, thanking my instincts for finally getting me out of harm's way.

Liara quickly obliged, lifting the asari and several creepers into the air. Now we were free to fire at will, and worry more about our weapons overheating than getting a chunk of armour, or worse, chewed out.

After a couple minutes, the rest of the squad got to their feet and joined us. It didn't take long to turn them all into goo. The creepers in front of us. The three creepers we passed on the stairs earlier, who tried to sneak up on us.

Even the green asari.

"Somehow, I didn't think asari died like that," Ashley said in confusion.

"Perhaps it was created by the Thorian, like those creepers," Liara suggested.

"Maybe," I said. I was more interested in looting the locker at the far end of the level, which I did as soon as I patched up the squad with medi-gel. More weapons, to my delight. To the left, a door led to another room. There was a partial cave-in, which provided a handy, albeit rocky, slope up to the next level. There was also another neural node, which we quickly destroyed before heading up.

The next couple neural nodes were guarded by several crouching creepers, who quickly stood up when we started firing at it. Each time, we backed up, sensing that discretion was definitely the wisest course of action. We let them come to us, took them out, and then destroyed the neural node.

It was gratifying to hear the Thorian shriek each time we took out a node. Made all the pits and dents in our hardsuits from acid corrosion worthwhile. Plus, it almost compensated for the disappointment I felt each time I came across another node and realized that this delightful jaunt wasn't over yet.

"We've definitely got it on the ropes now, Commander," Ashley called out after the third or fourth node. Team Two was taking point at that time, and Ashley was scouting ahead. "It has to drop soon."

It had better, I thought grimly. We were down to our last pack of medi-gel. We wouldn't be able to maintain this rate forever.

We reached the end of the corridor. As far as I could tell, there were still a few more levels to go, but there was no way to get up. Confused, we looked around.

Then I saw the gap in the wall, at the entrance to this level. We must have been so focused on searching for creepers, we completely missed it. Pointing it out, I ignored the sheepish looks on Team Two's faces. Hell, we all missed it. And I think we needed the minutes we'd just wasted to recuperate. I know I did, and that's what really mattered, after all.

The gap led down a slope of debris before reaching yet another set of stairs. Fortunately, it led to the next level. Unfortunately, it was packed with creepers. Some of them were just milling around, and charged down towards us. Some were sleeping on the job, and only pursued us after we passed them. **(1)**

"Team Two; take out the creepers ahead of us. Ashley, take point," I called out. "Team One'll cover our six. Wrex, you're on rear guard." Ashley and Wrex were the only ones who were wearing heavy-class hardsuits. That extra protection would help them withstand a couple more acid spits. Hopefully, that would buy us enough time to kill the creepers.

To my surprise, it worked. We even managed to knock with yet another green asari, courtesy of a well-angled biotic push from Kaidan that knocked her over the side of the stairs to fall to the bottom of the chamber.

At last, we reached the top level. By this point, I had calibrated my hardsuit sensors to scan for any neural nodes within a couple hundred metres. They found one on the other side. Rather than circle round the level and run through a gauntlet of creepers, I pulled out my sniper rifle and fired off a couple shots. **(2)**

This time, the Thorian's shriek was louder. We saw it jerk, sinking lower and lower as tendril after tendril snapped loose from the wall. With a final roar, the Thorian tore loose and plummeted to the ground.

The dust had barely begun to settle when we heard a slurping sound to our right. Our attention was drawn to a large pink blister, a membranous sac that was attached to the wall. Oh for crying out loud, I thought, can't the universe give me a break? Just this once?

With a tearing sound, the blister tore open, and an asari fell to the ground. This time, it had the bluish-purple hue of a normal asari.

Okay, I thought, maybe the universe finally listened to me.

She looked around in confusion as she stood up. "I'm free," she exclaimed.

Her attention focused on the squad. For some reason, she recognized me as squad leader. Don't know why. Creeper goo and acid spit hardly makes a good first impression.

"I—I suppose I should thank you for releasing me," she said.

"Is everything all right? Are you hurt?" I asked, playing the concerned hero for her benefit.

"I'm fine," she assured me. "Or I will be. In time. My name is Shiala," she introduced herself. "I serve… I served Matriarch Benezia," she corrected herself. Behind me, I heard a muffled gasp. Probably from Liara.

"When she allied herself with Saren, so did I."

Shiala continued before we could ask what the heck her boss was smoking. "Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling. She lost her way."

"Are you saying Saren can control minds?" I asked. I'd heard stories of the control asari had over their own nervous systems, how it made them so skilled at biotics, and how they could even link minds. But Saren wasn't an asari. Last I checked, anyways.

"Benezia underestimated Saren, as I did. We came to believe his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is troubling," she sighed.

"Typical asari meddling," Wrex rumbled. "About time it bit you in the ass."

I was still confused. "I thought asari matriarchs are amongst the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy. How could one fall under Saren's control?" Unless the asari had been relying on propaganda all along.

"Saren has a vessel. An enormous warship, unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it 'Sovereign.' It can dominate the minds of his followers. They become 'indoctrinated' to his will. The process is subtle. It can take days, even weeks. In the end, it is absolute.

"I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. He needed me to communicate with the Thorian, to learn its secrets. He offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between him and the Thorian."

"Saren's pretty quick to betray his own people," I observed. There was a definite trend here.

"He was quick to betray the Thorian, too," Shiala replied. "After he got what he wanted, he ordered the geth to destroy all evidence of its existence."

"Before we showed up," I deduced.

"Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit," she acknowledged. "He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."

"What's the Cipher? And why did Saren need it?"

"The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions," Shiala said. Clearly, Saren didn't mind keeping his followers in the loop once he'd indoctrinated them. "But the visions are confused, unclear. They were meant for a Prothean mind."

So that's why they were a jumble. I wasn't smart enough.

"To truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean. You must understand their culture, their thinking, their very existence. The Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it."

"So the Thorian taught Saren to think like a Prothean? How?"

"The Cipher is the very essence of being a Prothean. It… it is hard to explain. It is like describing colour to a creature without eyes. To understand the Protheans, you must have access to their endemic ancestral memories. A viewpoint spanning thousands of generations. I sense this… perspective, this Cipher, when I melded with the Thorian. Our identities merged, our thoughts intertwined. Such knowledge cannot be taught, it… simply exists."

"I need that Cipher," I said urgently. "It sounds like the only way to stop Saren."

"There is a way," Shiala said thoughtfully. "I could transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren."

Great, I thought sourly. More stuff crammed into my noggin. Unfortunately, I didn't see any other way. It wouldn't make sense to download this "Cipher" into someone else. Not when _I _was the one with the Prothean jibberish bouncing between my neurons.

"All right," I said, hiding my reluctance. "Do it."

"Try to relax, Commander," Shiala soothed. "Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence."

I got the feeling this was part of some asari ritual. Guess that's what happens when you live for a thousand years or so: you need to make up ways to pass the time. The longer the better, and all that.

"Open yourself to the universe, Commander. Embrace eternity!"

She suddenly looked at me, her eyes turning an inky black.

Oh crap, I thought.

Before I could even think of changing my mind, the images from the Eden Prime beacon flashed again. Creatures in a building, looking like they were in some kind of agony or despair, interspersed with pictures of circuitry and flesh. They seemed to repeat themselves in some kind of loop, over and over again. Then an image of a sun that shrank into the vastness of the galaxy, followed by planet after planet... except the last one, whose silhouette suddenly grew to encompass me in its shadow... where that giant ship we saw on Eden Prime was waiting. Looked like some kind of squid or cuttlefish. Which reminded me—I hadn't had anything to eat for several hours, now.

And then it was over.

"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to me. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

"Are you all right," Garrus inquired.

"Peachy," I replied sarcastically.

"What just happened?" Ashley said urgently.

Beats me. "I saw... something. It still didn't make any sense," I admitted. As far as I could tell, the only meaningful thing I got from it was a bunch of flashbacks and a minor headache.

"You have been given a great gift, the experiences of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information."

"We should get you back to the ship, Commander," Kaidan recommended. "Have Dr. Chakwas take a look at you."

"I am sorry if you have suffered," Shiala apologized, "but there was no other way. You needed the Cipher. In time, it will help you understand the vision from the beacon."

With my luck, it wouldn't be until it was almost too late.

I talked to her for a few more minutes to get any intel she could provide. The most interesting information she provided was about this Sovereign. Some kind of alien ship whose design didn't match any known spacefaring race. Bigger than anything the Citadel or Alliance fleets had, with better weapons and defences.

"You said Saren uses it to manipulate his followers," I said.

"The indoctrination," she confirmed. "There is an energy about Sovereign. You feel drawn to the ship. It makes Saren's arguments more persuasive, more compelling. Spend enough time in Sovereign's presence and you will lose yourself. There is no other way to explain it."

"Now that you are free of the Thorian, what are you planning to do next?" I asked.

"If you allow it, I would like to stay here with the colonists. They have suffered greatly and I played a part in their suffering. I would like to make amends."

While I thought she was being a bit hard on herself, I couldn't argue with the merits of that idea. "The colonists will need all the help they can get," I told her. "They'll be happy to have you on their side."

"Thank you, Commander," she replied. "May fortune smile upon you."

That would be a welcome change.

* * *

Liara was the first to speak once we got back to the Normandy and settled in for the debriefing. **(3) **"Commander? You look... pale. Are you suffering any ill effects from the beacon?"

"The Cipher shook me up a bit. Nothing more," I reassured her. Had to play the hero, after all.

"I might be able to help you, what with my knowledge of the Protheans," Liara suggested. "If I join my consciousness to yours, maybe we can make sense of it."

Eh, why not. It would be nice to know all this was worth something. "Do it," I ordered.

Liara went through, thankfully, an abbreviated version of Shiala's little ritual speech before her eyes went creepy and the images flashed again.

"Incredible," she marvelled. "All this time. All my research. I never dreamed—I'm sorry," she came to her senses. "The images were so vivid, I never imagined the experience would be so... intense. You are remarkably strong-willed, Commander. What you have been through, what you have seen, it would have destroyed a lesser mind."

"Come on, get to the point," Ashley said impatiently. "What did you see?"

"The beacon on Eden Prime was badly damaged. Large parts of the vision are missing. The data transferred to the commander's mind is incomplete."

Figures.

"I was able to interpret the data relayed through your vision. What was there, at least. But something was missing. Saren must have the missing information. Maybe he has another beacon. If we could find the missing data from your vision, I could..."

She suddenly stopped and swayed, clutching her head. "I am sorry. The experience was... exhausting. I should go to the medical bay and lie down for a moment."

"Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you," I suggested.

"That will not be necessary," she reassured me. "I just need some rest. Somewhere quiet."

"Go ahead. We're done here." To the rest of the squad, I said "Dismissed."

"I've sent off the Feros report, Commander," Joker reported over the comm. "You want me to patch you through to the Council?"

"Patch them through, Joker," I ordered.

Within a minute, TPTB shimmered into view on the holo-projectors. Given how quickly they responded, I figured they had too much time on their hands.

"We received your report, Commander," the asari councillor said. "Things would have been easier if Exogeni had warned you about the Thorian."

See, that's why I needed to contact the Council. I would have never figured out stuff like that on my own. I am just a dumb grunt, after all.

"You might have been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it," the salarian councillor suggested.

"Exogeni was trying to study it," I reminded them. "Look how that turned out."

"Perhaps it is for the best, then" the asari councillor conceded. "At least the colony was saved."

"Of _course_ it was saved," her turian counterpart scoffed. "Shepard would go to any lengths to save a _human _colony."

"I never jeopardized the mission," I said. Quite mildly, under the circumstances, I thought.

"That's good, Commander," the salarian councillor replied. "Stopping Saren is your top priority. Everything else is secondary."

"Goodbye, Commander," the asari councillor concluded. "We'll be waiting for your next report."

Like I said: way too much time on their hands.

* * *

That little debriefing brought on another headache, so I figured I should go and pay Dr. Chakwas another visit. Just to be safe. She gave me a clean bill of health, but offered to prescribe some painkillers if I really needed them. I declined. Figured I should save that numbness for when I really needed it. Which, given my luck, would probably be sooner than I'd like.

We chatted for a bit while she was putting away for her equipment. How was she doing, how was the crew doing, stuff like that. After a while, I decided to indulge my curiosity.

"How did you end up serving on an Alliance ship?" I asked her.

"I enlisted right out of med school," she replied. "Earth always seemed boring to me... too safe, too secure. I figured the colonies were teeming with exotic adventure."

Her voice grew more dramatic. "I wanted to travel the stars, tending the wounds of tough soldiers with piercing eyes and sensitive souls." Then she laughed. "Turns out military life isn't quite as romantic as I imagined," she added wryly.

"But humanity needs the Alliance if we want to keep expanding through the Traverse, and the Alliance always needs good doctors. So I stayed on to do my part."

"Ever think you made the wrong choice?"

"Sometimes, I think about opening a private practise back on Earth, or maybe taking a position at one of the new med centres out in the colonies. But there's something special about working on soldiers. If I left the Alliance now, I'd feel like I was abandoning them."

"Well, we're lucky to have you," I told her before departing.

"We're lucky to have you, too, Commander," she returned, just before the med bay's doors hissed shut.

With nothing else to do, I decided to head back to the Citadel and hit up my favourite buyer, Dr. Michel, before Ashley got on my case again. As Gunnery Chief, she had assumed the responsibility of looking after all the weapons we had, even the ones no one was using, and my compulsive collecting had increased her workload exponentially. Even if the worst of them were actually mid-range decent gear, she did have a point. Besides, I always liked adding a little extra to my account.

I was about to set a course for the Citadel when Joker contacted me.

"Good timing, Commander. We've got a transmission coming in from the Citadel. Top priority clearance. I think it's the Council."

Again? They really _did _have too much time on their hands.

"I'll patch it through to the comm room."

"Understood," I said.

Thankfully, the comm room was right behind the galaxy map, so I didn't have to waste too much time. It only took a minute to enter, where I was greeted by the holographic trio.

"Commander Shepard. We've received information that may be critical to your mission against Saren," the asari councillor began without preamble.

"I'll take all the help I can get," I replied.

"We've received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiments in the Traverse," the salarian councillor took over. It was gathering intel on Saren."

"What did they find," I asked.

"Unfortunately, the message we received was little more than static. The infiltration team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications. But the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important.

"Considering your interest in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate this. Find out what happened to our team. The signal originated from the planet Virmire."

"I'll look into it as soon as possible," I promised, deliberately choosing to leave out _when _I would do so. It sounded like this new 'investigation' would put my neck on the chopping block, and I preferred to delay that as long as possible. Besides, I still had Noveria to check out, so it wasn't as if I was completely stalling for time.

"Good luck, Commander Shepard," the asari councillor concluded. "We will keep you advised if we learn anything else."

* * *

Without any further distractions, I was free to head for the Citadel. After docking and selling off the surplus weapons and mods, we dropped by to pay Captain Anderson a visit. Of course, Udina was there, and he had to throw in his two cents. Mostly about how he was thankful the Feros colony was still intact—as its loss would make the Alliance look bad. Typical.

While we were on the Presidium, I decided to find Nassana Dantius, that conveniently well-informed asari who wanted me to rescue her sister-turned-slaver.

She was in the diplomatic lounge on the Presidium. Again. Ignoring the possibility that she had a drinking problem, I called out to get her attention.

"Yes, Shepard?" she answered. "Did you find my sister?"

"Dahlia's dead. And I know she was blackmailing you."

She took it quite well, which confirmed my suspicions. "So the truth comes out," she said calmly. "I hope you are not angry. Surely you can understand why I lied to you. If people found out my sister was a criminal, I'd be considered a security risk. They'd revoke my clearance, or place me on administrative leave. That is why I misled you. I could not risk you exposing me. But now that Dahlia is out of the picture, it is no longer a problem."

"I would've helped if you'd just told me the truth," I pointed out, milking the 'Truth, Justice and the Alliance Way of Life' angle for all it was worth. If this encounter had convinced her I was some dumb, gullible do-gooder, I didn't see any reason to disillusion her.

"Perhaps you're right," she conceded. "I am sorry. We have trust issues in my family."

"Obviously," Ashley said coldly.

Nassana ignored her. "I shall transfer a little something into your account as a token of my appreciation. I'm sure you will find the amount satisfactory."

"I don't want your blood money," I replied. Which was true. Not when I could sell anything I found that wasn't nailed down.

"I do not like being in anyone's debt," Nassana stated. "Consider it a fee for doing your civic duty if it makes you feel any better. Or give it away to some charity. I care not. The funds are already on their way. They are your problem now."

She was right. The next time I checked my official accounts, I was 68 000 credits richer. I decided to leave it where it was for the time being. The only way anyone would know was if Nassana decided to 'fess up, something that she was clearly unwilling to do. Besides, if I ever grew a conscience, I could easily send it back... along with a few charming computer viruses. **(4)**

The only other event worth mentioning occurred in one of the corridors connecting the Presidium to the Wards. We were on our way back to the ship when some dishevelled guy tried to get my attention.

"Hey. Been a long time, huh?" he said.

Given that I didn't recognize him, I figured it was a long time. "I'm sorry. Do we know each other?"

"I, uh, I guess you don't remember me. Lieutenant Zabaleta?" Didn't ring any bells. "I worked with your mother?" Yeah, my mother worked with a lot of people. "We served on the carrier Einstein. **(5)** That was twelve, thirteen years back, though. You were just a kid then."

Well, at least I had a timeline now. Could've been a scam. Some drunk sobered up long enough to sift the extranet for enough data to piece together a halfway credible story.

"I didn't see her much that tour," I replied. "The ship was on patrol most of the time."

"Hey, call your mom up and ask. She'd remember ol' Zabaleta. She'd vouch for me."

Maybe. Maybe not. I decided to test the guy. If he was legit, he'd know a few things about the Einstein that most civvies couldn't dream of.

"You know, the Einstein always stood out for her," I started. "Pride of humanity... except for Deck Four."

He laughed. "Yeah, that's true. Deck Four was, uh, infamous for the state of its washrooms," he explained, for the benefit of my squad. "The men's washroom was, uh... well... filthy. Don't know why. None of the other washrooms on the other decks were that bad. But Deck Four... everyone went to the women's washroom on that deck. No one wanted to go near the men's washroom."

"And the officers just left it like that?" Tali asked disapprovingly.

"Sometimes, they'd threaten to make anyone guilty of insubordination or dereliction of duty clean it up. But nothing ever came of it," Zabaleta admitted. "Not until we got word that some admiral was gonna drop by for an inspection." He chuckled. "We spent three whole days cleaning up that pigsty. Had to work in twenty minute shifts, cuz no one could stand to work there for any longer. Didn't manage to get all the stains out, but it was clean enough to pass inspection. After that, we made damn sure that it wouldn't get that bad again."

Well, he passed the test. That's pretty much what Mom said, right down to the part about the stains.

A guilty look came over Zabaleta's face. "Listen, I need a favour. I'm kind of short on cash these days. I hate hitting you up for money, but a man's gotta eat, right? So, uh, could you spare something? Maybe twenty credits?"

"Twenty credits? That's not enough to get you back on your feet, is it?"

"Nah, nah. I'll just get a... a meal. You know," he said, looking at his feet.

Somehow, I got the feeling that he was going to say something else. So I decided to flip the tables. "I'll do you one better," I told him. "Hold tight. I'll be right back."

I led the squad away towards the nearest food court, and returned ten minutes later with a plate of hot food and a random assortment of canned goods. Figured that would get some real food in his system, rather than booze or drugs or whatever he was probably on. "Here you go. Wasn't sure what you liked, but that oughta tide you over for a couple days."

Zabaleta looked stunned. Whether it was from the unexpected largess in front of him or the disappointment that he wouldn't be getting plastered or stoned, I didn't know. "Thanks, kid."

I ignored the obvious lapse in protocol from a former lieutenant to a superior officer. I wasn't one of _those _heroes, after all.

"You're a good kid, you know that? Listen, you ever want to come by and talk, I'll be here. Can't afford a ticket home, right?"

I said my goodbyes and returned to the Normandy. Once onboard, I made a beeline for the comm room, and set up a real-time connection to the Kilimanjaro, where my mom was stationed as XO. **(6)** Before I went off on yet another waste of time, suicide mission, or both, I might as well get this puzzle out of the way.

"Shepard spe—oh, hi!" my mom greeted me. "I don't have time for a personal call right now. I'm on duty."

"I know what that's like," I replied. "Do you remember a Lt. Zabaleta from the Einstein?"

"Ernesto?" Mom said urgently. "Have you heard from him?" She continued without waiting for a reply. "He was one of the marines who guarded the CIC. We shared a watch. I lost track of him after... there was an incident."

"I've seen him here on the Citadel," I said, answering her earlier question. "Looks like he's had some hard times."

"I don't doubt it," Mom sighed. "You remember the batarian raid on Mindoir in 2170?"

"Sure," I replied. "I was in high school at the time."

"The Einstein's task group responded to the mayday. The batarians were still pulling out when we hit groundside. Zabaleta was one of the first down. He... he was never quite the same after."

Neither was Mom, as I recalled. She refused to speak of it, even after I enlisted. "What happened down there?" I asked.

"About every abomination that a sentient being can do to another," she sighed. "To a slaver, a person is just another animal. And humans aren't always liked out here. We heard about corralling. Culling. But to see it in person... they'd shoot those they couldn't use. Implant control devices in the skulls of those they could. Without anaesthetic."

I was starting to put the pieces together. "He has PTSD because of what he saw?"

"He tried to keep working, but it rode him," she confirmed. "He showed up drunk on duty more and more. We couldn't always cover for him. The Alliance eventually discharged him. Everyone knew he drank because of what he'd seen down there. Even if he didn't talk about it."

She sighed again. "_Especially _because he never talked about it."

"Sounds like he was quite a sensitive man, if it affected him that deeply," I observed.

"He was," Mom said. "Always in laughter and tears. Especially after Mindoir. If you see him again, tell him we still worry about him. Tell him to go to the Veteran's Affairs Office."

"I'll do that," I promised.

"I have to go," Mom said regretfully. I knew she would've spent the next few hours catching up, asking how I was doing, whether I found a nice young lady—or man, it is the twenty-second century, after all—to settle down with, if it wasn't for her sense of duty. "Take care of yourself. You're making us proud. Kilimanjaro out."

Before heading out, I decided to head back. Figured I'd talk to Zabaleta before he found some sucker who could help him get plastered. Even if it meant dealing with the elevators again. The things I do for this damned reputation.

Zabaleta was still sober enough to recognize me when I arrived. And hit me up for money.

"I spoke to my mother," I replied. "She spoke about what happened at Mindoir."

"Did she?" he asked. "I wonder." He shook his head. "People tied like prize hogs. Locked in cages, clawing and screaming as they're loaded into cargo pods. And we couldn't reach them. The batarian defences had us pinned. Dozens died trying to advance. All we could do is watch as they hauled them away."

He looked at me with a haunted look on his face. "I've been looking for thirteen years for something to make that sight go away. What have you got? Huh?"

"I don't have anything to help you drink yourself to death, if that's what you're asking. You need to stop this."

"If you don't have a better option, just give me twenty credits," he snapped, suddenly sounding like he had been hitting the bottle. "A good bottle of whisky," he slurred. "Enough to stop the dreams."

Ignoring the fact that twenty credits would definitely _not _buy any whisky that could be remotely considered 'good,' I gave him Mom's advice. (7) "My mom said to go to the Veteran Affair's Office. You're not the only one who's seen that brand of hell. They can help."

"The VAO?" Zabaleta exclaimed. "God." Then he seemed to reconsider. "All right. If she wants me to go talk to someone, fine. I'll do it. For her. She always stuck up for me." **(8)**

He shook his head again. "Heh. She always was naive. All the VAO does is pump you full of chemicals." Before he left, Zabaleta looked at me. "Tell your mother that, if she wants to talk, she can reach me through the Citadel VAO."

"Done," I said. "Good luck."

* * *

Without any further distractions, we headed back to the Normandy and departed. We spent the next few days hitting every other system for minerals, mercs and loot. Which we found in spades. Most of it isn't worth noting, to be honest.

There was only one exception: Helena Blake, the criminal who pleasantly requested that I take out her bosses, had asked me to meet her at her base in the Fortuna system when I completed the job. A rather low priority, to be honest, but I've learned that leaving loose ends unresolved tends to trip you up at the worst possible moment. More importantly, the Fortuna system was in the Horse Head Nebula, a couple systems away from the one that Noveria was in. Since I was in the neighbourhood and all...

She greeted me in a most courteous manner when I arrived. Of course, the assault rifle on her back and the mercs lurking behind her might have had something to do with that.

"Hello again, Commander Shepard. I owe you a debt of gratitude. With my former partners dead, this syndicate is now mine. I could not have done it without you."

"I killed them in self-defence because they resisted arrest," I corrected her. "Surely you'll be more cooperative."

"Surely you don't think that necessary," she returned, sounding shocked. "Under my leadership, this organization will restrict itself to gambling and smuggling illegal technology. These crimes are hardly worth your time." Almost as if it was an afterthought, she sweetly added "If you press the issue, my assistants are very well equipped to deal with you."

"Yes, they do look rather rough and uncouth," I replied, echoing her cultured tones. "Just what you'd expect from drug traffickers and slavers. This gang's made quite a reputation for itself in those markets. It's too late to change that, don't you agree?"

Blake looked like she was about to offer a rebuttal, then glanced over her shoulder at the nearest man. A pot-bellied man with a mass of stubble that could barely be called a beard, with a cold look in his eyes that clearly stated his willingness to sell his mother for a credit. Or two. "Perhaps you're right," she conceded. Perhaps this organization has been so tainted by those two idiots that it cannot be redeemed."

She turned back to look at me, the hard look in her eyes echoing the tone of her voice. "If I disband this gang, I walk away free. I have not come so far to be arrested. I would die before going to prison. I would most _certainly _kill before going to prison. Now, do we have a deal?"

Letting a criminal walk in exchange for breaking up a criminal syndicate without any risk to my neck? Didn't take much time at all to settle on a decision. "You're free to go. I don't ever want to see this gang again. If I do..."

Blake assumed I was speaking as a righteous hero, not as someone who despises loose ends. Whatever works. She assured me that she wouldn't be so stupid to break a promise to a Spectre before asking me to leave as soon as possible, joking that her men became nervous in the presence of law enforcement agents.

It was with great sorrow that I returned to the Normandy and ordered Joker to set a course for Noveria. While I'd rather go poking my nose in quiet places that offered no greater challenge than the hit-and-miss chances of mineral surveys, I couldn't justify putting off my mission any longer. Not with an entire crew watching me.

Damn this reputation of mine.

_

* * *

_

(1): There is not enough data to determine whether this was a conscious tactical move on the Thorian's part, or whether its creepers were operating on some kind of delayed instinctual behaviour.

_(2): While it was not uncommon for soldiers with sniper training to make use of their sniper rifles, Shepard had a history of deploying his sniper rifle in close-quarters combat, undoubtedly due to the conflicts he constantly and inadvertently found himself in._

_(3): In the wake of the "Thorian incident," Mr. Jeong promised that Exogeni would provide all the funding necessary to keep the colony going. Ms. Baynham attributed this generosity to Shepard's efforts and thanked him profusely. It is typical of Shepard that he neglects to mention this, despite his usual attention to detail. _

_(4): Shepard would meet Ms. Dantius again a few years later, where she would meet her comeuppance. That tale is best left for another time, however, as it does not pertain to this mission. _

_(5): Dreadnought-sized vessels that carried a large number of fighters. Carriers are typically named after famous people in human history. While it was common for starships of that size to carry a complement of fighters, humanity was the first to field vessels that used fighters as their primary means of attack, a fact that was often cited as an example of humanity thinking "outside the box."_

_(6): Shepard's mother, Hannah Shepard, served on the dreadnought Kilimanjaro. Alliance dreadnoughts are named after mountain formations on Earth._

_(7): While Shepard rarely mentions this, he had a preternaturally high tolerance for alcohol, accompanied with a connoisseur's instinct on identifying quality beverages. This might not be considered unusual for a marine, were it not for the fact that he almost never drank._

_(8): It is highly likely that her example played a pivotal role in shaping Shepard's character. Naturally, she was modest about that to the point of denial, a trait that she clearly passed along to her son._


	19. Personnel Report: Urdnot Wrex

_Editorial Note: This personnel evaluation will examine Urdnot Wrex. Readers are reminded that these evaluations were conducted after his mission was complete, and thus covers a number of conversations at different points in time, ranging from Shepard's first meeting with Wrex to just before they touched down on Noveria._

**Personnel Evaluation—Urdnot Wrex**

Everyone says you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Usually, 'everyone' couldn't find their collective ass, even with VI assistance and a holo-map. Still, you find an exception once in a while. Like Urdnot Wrex, for example.

I'll admit I initially wanted him onboard because he was a good soldier. Come on: krogan, biotic, _and _can follow orders? Sold. Nothing more to the guy than that, right? **(1)** Then I asked, just for the heck of it, what he would've done if I'd taken care of Fist without Wrex? His answer: transfer the payment he would've received into my account, because he wouldn't accept pay for someone else's work.

Now I was curious.

Unfortunately, Wrex would prove to be quite uncooperative when it came to revealing what made him tick. He wasn't exactly what you'd call talkative. He was perfectly willing to voice his opinion, often in a blunt and crass manner, but only when he wanted to. Or felt it was wise to point something out—I still remember his suggestion on not letting that krogan bartender at Chora's get within spitting distance.

Finally I managed to get something out of him. And it all started with asking him for a story at bedtime.

Okay, it was 1930 hours, which is a bit early for some shut-eye. Would've been at 1900, but I had to find him first—he wasn't in his assigned quarters. Seems krogan are really territorial, so they need a certain amount of room if you want to avoid any broken bones. So when I eventually found him in the cargo bay, I asked him for a story. His story, to be precise.

"There's no story," he replied. "Go ask the quarian if you want stories."

"You krogan live for centuries," I pointed out. "Don't tell me you haven't had a few interesting adventures."

Wrex pretended to think about it. "Well, there was this one time the turians almost wiped out our entire race. That was fun," he said sarcastically.

"They tried the same fun with us, too," I said casually, "but we fought them off."

"It's not the same," Wrex dismissed.

"It's not?"

"No. Not unless your people were infected with a genetic mutation? An infection that makes only a few in a thousand survive birth? One that's destroying your entire race?"

"I suppose it isn't the same," I managed to say.

"I don't expect you to understand, but don't compare humanity's fate with the krogan," Wrex concluded firmly.

"I was just trying to make conversation, Wrex," I apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Your ignorance doesn't upset me, Shepard," Wrex waved it off, albeit in an abrupt manner. Now that he'd made his point, he didn't seem to see the need to belabour it. "As for the krogan, I gave up on them long ago. The genophage infected us, but it's not what's killing us."

Since it didn't look like he'd be ripping off my limbs and beating me to death with them any time soon, I decided to indulge my curiosity. "Are your people really dying?"

"We're sure not getting any stronger," he snorted. "We're too spread out. None of us are interested in staying in our own system."

"Lots of race have left their homes and prospered," I pointed out, trying to be the voice of optimism.

"But they go to colonize new worlds," Wrex rebutted. "We're not settlers. We're warriors. We want to fight. So we leave. Hire ourselves out. And most of us... never go back."

Wrex seemed to be getting increasingly moody, so it might not have been the best time to continue digging up depressing historical facts. Unfortunately, my mouth was one step ahead of my neurons: "So... this genophage is what's affecting your people? What can you tell me about it?"

"Ask the salarians if you want details," Wrex replied. "They made it. All I know: it makes breeding nearly impossible. Thousands die in stillbirth. Most," he broke off for a moment to shake his head "most never get that far. Every krogan is infected. Every one. And no one's rushing to find a cure."

"Why don't the krogan try to find a cure?" I asked. Naive, I know, but it seemed like a valid question at the time.

Wrex let out a brief, bitter laugh. "When was the last time you saw a krogan scientist?" he asked me. He nodded when, after a few seconds thought, I shrugged helplessly. "You ask a krogan whether he'd rather find a cure for the genophage or fight for credits, he'll choose fighting every time. It's just who we are, Shepard," he concluded tiredly. "I can't change that. Nobody can."

At that point I figured it was time to leave. He'd never admit it, but I think I depressed Wrex enough for one evening. Besides, I figured I should brush up on some history. Advantage of having N7 _and _Spectre access: you can piece together the whole story, not just the abridged dummies version. After an hour, I had to take a break. Even for a guy who'd been on way too many covert ops, this was depressing reading. No wonder Wrex got so moody.

The whole reason why the turians were so pissed at humans for randomly opening every possible mass relay was that the Citadel races used to do that—and paid for it bitterly. Specifically, they went through one particular mass relay, not knowing where it went to or who was on the other side, and met the rachni. Insectoid, territorial, and seriously pissed. So pissed, in fact, that they opened hostilities with the Citadel races.

Dial forward a century later, and the Citadel races were seriously screwed. The rachni were ridiculously powerful, and could breed like there was no tomorrow. All seemed lost until the salarians discovered a race known as the krogan on a little hellhole called Tuchanka. Hides thick enough to withstand anything from blades to toxins to radiation. Humps that could store enough fluids and nutrients to keep them going for days without additional sustenance. Redundant organs and nervous systems. Bred almost as prolifically as the rachni. And, best of all, they were so damn aggressive they nuked each other back to the proverbial stone age, then kept on fighting (and surviving).

The salarians took it upon themselves to "culturally uplift" the krogan: a fancy way to describe giving them advanced weapons and tech before shipping them off to a new world. One without pesky environmental factors like radiation and hostile fauna—which would hopefully allow the krogan to increase their population to a point where they could supply regular reinforcements. Questionable altruism, but it worked: within two hundred years, the rachni were gone. Fleets gone, homeworlds overrun, race driven to extinction. All thanks to the krogan.

In gratitude, the Citadel Council gave the krogan colony rights to the former rachni worlds, as well as several new colony worlds. Just rewards for a job well done, they thought. Yeah, right. See, none of those worlds were as hostile as Tuchanka, which meant none of them were capable of keeping the krogan population in check. It didn't take long before the krogan started running out of elbow room. Not seeing other options, the krogan decided to take some new worlds. Never mind that they were already colonized. Eventually the Citadel Council told them to stop, the krogan ambassador—yeah, I know, sounds as weird as a 'krogan scientist'—told them where to stuff it and dared them to take back their worlds. War soon broke out.

Once again, the Citadel race found themselves royally screwed. The krogan were just as vicious as the rachni and, thanks to their insane birth rate, kept increasing their numbers despite horrific casualties. In desperation, they turned to a newly discovered race: the turians. The turians employed their military might, but only enough until the salarians completed a bio-weapon that would infect every single krogan cell, thus thwarting any attempts to cure it with gene therapy, and dramatically reduce the likelihood of viable pregnancies. The name of this charming little plague: the genophage.

The salarians figured using it as a deterrent would be sufficient. The turians, with their military doctrine of 'massive retaliation' thought otherwise, and promptly deployed it. Krogan numbers quickly declined, cessation of hostilities followed, and everyone was happy.

Well, almost everybody.

See, by itself, the genophage might not have been a 'sterility plague.' But combine its effects with the krogan tendency for violence and an insufficient attention span to get any attempt at long-term breeding up and running, and you've got an equation for the eventual extinction of the krogan race. Not to mention the perfect recipe for making the krogan even more dangerous than they already are—why worry about long-term consequences if your people are gonna die anyways?

That probably explained why Wrex found the line of work he did, but I wanted to make sure. Making assumptions, especially when you don't have to, tends to get people killed. I wanted to avoid that if possible. Besides, I was curious.

So, after several missions, I finally found some spare time to go back down to the cargo bay and ask him why he became a merc.

As usual, his initial response was terse: "Lots of reasons."

"Such as?" I prompted.

"I needed to get out of our system. I needed to eat. I needed to survive."

"What? You couldn't get food and shelter from your people?"

"No."

"Did they have any to spare?"

"No."

"Did you think about maybe sending anything back once you'd established yourself? You know, to help your people?"

"I tried to help. That's why I had to leave."

Interesting.

"What happened," I asked.

"I was betrayed," Wrex said darkly. He seemed to think that that would explain everything. I begged to differ, which was why I didn't walk away. After a while, he saw that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and elaborated.

"I was head of a small tribe. **(2)** We were trying to restore order after the war, but the other tribes were against us. They followed Jarrod, one of the few warlords who survived the wars with the turians. But he was old, and so were his ideas.

"He wanted to continue the war. He wanted us to fight turians, salarians, each other. It didn't matter who, as long as we were fighting."

Somehow, I got the feeling Wrex disagreed. "What did you want?"

"I just wanted Jarrod to shut up. To stop his ranting. I wanted him to stop leading the tribes astray. But he couldn't understand how much things had changed. We didn't have the numbers to go to war. Even if we did, the genophage made sure we couldn't replenish our numbers fast enough. 

"I told them all to forget about war. We needed to focus on breeding. At least for one generation. And for a while, we were getting through. Some of the tribes started coming around."

"I take it the warlord didn't appreciate that," I said drily.

"No. He didn't," Wrex confirmed. "He arranged a Crush with the tribes." He must have seen the confused look on my face and took pity on me: "A meeting on neutral ground. He wanted to talk."

"We met at the Hollows, near the graves of our ancestors. The skulls of our dead laid bare to remind us where we come from, and where we all go. It's as sacred as any krogan place can be. Violence is forbidden."

If I was in that situation, my paranoid streak would've been screaming, and I pointed that out to Wrex. Sort of: "It sounds like a trap to me. You must've suspected as much."

"I did," Wrex acknowledged. "But when your father invites you to a Crush... well, there are some laws even we hold sacred."

Well, there was an interesting twist. "Jarrod was your father?"

"He was. Until that day," Wrex replied coldly. "We talked. But we didn't get anywhere. When it was clear that I wouldn't join him, he gave the signal. His men leapt from the graves of our ancestors like krogan undead! The few that were loyal to me died quickly.

"I escaped with my life. But not before I sank my dagger deep into my father's chest. _That_... is why I left. And _that's_ why I'll never go back."

So that explained why Wrex had given up on his people. He'd tried his best, only to discover his people, were more interesting in indulging their self-destructive tendencies than their own survival as a species. Even worse, his own father tried to stab him in the back. That would leave anyone feeling bitter. To be honest, I'm surprised he didn't take it out on us. Not that I want that or anything.

"You must have family other than your father," I finally said. "Don't you miss them?"

"You trying to make me cry, Shepard?" he sneered. "I've got some... unfinished business with my family," he admitted. "But that's all."

"What kind of business?" I asked, unable to resist my curiosity.

Wrex sighed, finally giving in to my nagging. "Before I left, I swore an oath to my father's father. I swore to recover my family's battle armour. It was taken from him after the uprising."

"What's so important about this armour?" I asked.

"It's a relic; useless, really. But it was worn by five generations of my family before the war. It's rightfully mine. Originally, it was taken by the turian military. We weren't allowed armour or weapons after the war. Now, it's in the hands of Tonn Actus, a turian scum who collects relics from the war. He's made millions selling krogan artifacts that were stolen from my people. He's got several bases where he stores his goods. All fortified and guarded. I just don't know which base has my family's armour."

After all the crap his people had been through, helping him get back a family heirloom didn't seem like that big a deal. Especially if it wasn't too far out of our way. **(3)** "Just tell me where to start looking."

"I'll upload the data to your nav system," Wrex said. Before I left, he added "But Commander, I want to be there when you find him."

About a week later, the Normandy entered the orbit of Tuntau, the closest base on Wrex's list. The mercs guarding the perimeter of the base were easily dealt with, thanks to some overkill from the Mako. As for the mercs on the inside... they were a bit challenging. Hard to take down mercs who insist on charging towards you, hanging around just long enough to fire off a few shots, then rabbiting as soon as things go south. Tonn Actus was even worse, as he had some really good shields (or a top-notch shield regen protocol. Or both.).

Anyhow, after that was over, it was time to do some nice peaceful salvage. For someone who'd collected and sold krogan property, there were very few items that looked like historical relics from the Krogan Rebellions. And, by very little, I mean nothing. I was starting to think that we'd hit a dead end, and the universe was playing a cruel joke by throwing Tonn Actus himself at us while withholding the item that sparked this whole detour in the first place.

Then we found the safe on the second floor.

Took a minute to crack—tough time lock on that one, but I succeeded in the end. There were a few pistols here, a weapon mod there...

...and the oldest set of armour I'd ever seen. Looked like a bunch of scales or armoured plates from some creature I'd never seen before, with a bunch of markings crudely carved in. Some of those markings looked like some (presumably) krogan dialect. Maybe some wise saying like "Krogan was here." Other markings looked suspiciously like a tally count. Probably along the lines of "I am krogan, and I killed X enemies this day. Go me." The scales, plates... whatever they were, they were joined by bands of bronze-coloured metal, each with the same rough carvings.

We moved aside before Wrex could shove his way past us. Turned out we could've saved ourselves the trouble. He spent a full minute just... standing there. Staring at it.

"This is it," he said.

Having broken his silence, he finally walked forward, kneeled over and pulled out the armour.

There was another pause, while he held the armour out at arm's length and stared at it.

"I can't believe my family ever wore this piece of crap," he rumbled, "but at least I've got it back."

"I'm glad we could help you," I said.

Wrex jerked around to look at me as if he'd forgotten we were there. That was certainly possible, given how thoroughly it had caught his attention. Guess it had a lot of family memories attached to it. **(4)** Not that I would know anything about stuff like that. **(5) **He looked at me for a while, before a slight smile spread over his face. "You know, I might be starting to like you, Shepard."

He seemed... different from that point onwards. If I had to pick a word, I'd have to choose 'calmer.' I guess he'd finally completed his own personal quest, and could now move on without it dogging his every step. At the time, I was simply glad to repay him in some way for all the times he saved my ass.

Little did I know the ramifications of that simple gesture.

* * *

_(1): It is highly unlikely that Shepard would simply let things slide like that. A more likely answer, based on the contents of his official log, was that he was facing pressing matters, such as acquiring evidence of Saren's corruption, which had higher priority than even his insatiable curiosity._

_(2): Wrex was, in fact, the youngest krogan to become the leader of his tribe in the last millennium._

_(3): Technically, it was 'out of the way,' though that didn't stop Shepard from making the detour. Throughout his career, Shepard made a habit of helping anyone and everyone with their problems, though he never lost sight of whatever mission was at hand. He would likely say it was simply to indulge his curiosity and nosiness, while maintaining the pretence of a caring hero. I say he 'doth protests too much.' _

_(4): Wrex was alive at the end of the Krogan Rebellions, which, incidentally, means he is at least 1400 years old. More importantly, it would mean that he saw the theft of this family heirloom firsthand._

_(5): At the risk of distracting the reader from the focus of this personnel report—namely, Urdnot Wrex—I feel I should correct Shepard's disingenuous assertions. During the selection process to identify possible human Spectre candidates, I asked his mother for personal information that would provide perspective on Shepard's character, something that wasn't in official Alliance records. The first tale she told was how Shepard kept the telescopic sight from his very first sniper rifle—an unusual act, given his penchant for replacing weapons and equipment as soon as they were obsolete without an iota of sentimentality. She believed it was his way of 'seeing'—both literally and figuratively—where he came from, where he was, and where he was going. _


	20. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defence grid is armed and tracking you. State your business."

That was the welcome we received as the Normandy approached Noveria. As cold and frosty as the geography of the planet itself. Not too surprising, though. Captain Anderson had given me a brief synopsis of Noveria, and the other planets Udina had mentioned when he first ceded the Normandy over to me. Basically, Noveria was a privately-held world. It was owned by the Noveria Development Corporation holding company, which was funded by about twenty-four tech firms and run by an Executive Board comprised of representatives from those firms. The appeal of Noveria was that, technically, it was not part of Citadel space. Therefore, corporations with deep enough pockets could research or develop anything they wanted, free of Citadel regulations, at one of the seventeen research facilities established across Noveria's frozen surface.

However, Spectres were granted extraterritorial privileges to operate on Noveria with the authority they'd normally possess within Citadel space. In theory. We were about to find out whether the Noveria bigwigs would actually live up to their promise.

"Citadel business," Joker responded, rolling his eyes at the pompous halfwit who was clearly off on his own little power trip. "We've got a Council Spectre on board."

"Landing access granted, Normandy," the disembodied voice reluctantly replied. We received coordinates for a berth and headed planetside to the administrative hub, Port Hanshan.

As we were docking, the voice contacted us again. Just to get the last word in, I guess: "Be advised, we will be confirming identification upon arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel _will _be impounded."

Joker summed up my thoughts perfectly: "What a fun bunch. I think I'll take my next leave here."

* * *

Our first face-to-face encounter didn't go any better, as a bunch of armed men and women greeted us at the entrance to the Port Hanshan. They acted like cops, but something in their appearance didn't completely add up. Rent-a-cops or some private security firm, I guessed.

"That's far enough," their leader, a Japanese woman, said when we got close, raising a hand to stop us.

"Something wrong, Officer," I asked. Never hurts to start off on the polite foot, in my opinion. You can always shoot them later. Especially if you're a Spectre.

"You'd better hope there isn't," one of the guards, a blonde woman, responded. I'm sure she was trying to sound menacing. To be honest, I've heard worse.

"This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials," the leader continued.

"You first," I responded. It is customary for the inspecting officer to introduce themselves first, after all. We really must observe all the proprieties. Besides, it might be insightful—and fun—to see who gets honked off.

"We're the law here," Blondie snapped back immediately. "Show some respect." **(1)**

Before I could politely respond that I would reciprocate whatever respect I was offered, which, so far, amounted to virtually nil, the leader butted in. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo," she smoothly responded, with a diplomatic grace that Blondie clearly lacked. "Elanus Risk Control Services."

Ah. So they _were_ private sector. I'd heard they contracted their personnel out for things like security or counter-privacy operations. As mercs go, they were more legit than most. This was the first time I'd met any ERCS personnel face to face. Up to that point, the only exposure I'd had was with whatever weapons I'd looted. Crap stuff, mostly. Anyways, looked like Blondie got pissed. Unlike Captain Matsuo—props to her.

"I'm a Spectre," I finally replied. "My name is Shepard."

"Load of horsecrap, ma'am," Blondie sniffed.

"We will need to confirm that," Matsuo re-interpreted. "Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria."

Pseudo-cop mercs excepted, I surmised.

"Sergeant Stirling," Matsuo continued, glancing at Blondie, "secure their weapons."

Sergeant Blondie had barely taken a step forward when the seven of us whipped out our weapons. Belatedly, the guards reciprocated. All except Matsuo, who calmly stood there with her arms behind her back rather than make a move for her own pistol. I had to admire her calm and confidence. Or be appalled by her tenuous grasp on reality.

"Citadel authority supersedes yours," Garrus helpfully pointed out.

"We're not here to start a fight," I assured Matsuo.

"Why not?" Wrex rumbled.

Ignoring him, I continued. "However, we are not relinquishing our weapons. We do have the authority to keep them."

"Captain Matsuo, stand down!" a woman's voice suddenly came in over the PA. "We confirmed their identity. Spectres _are _authorized to carry weapons here."

"You may proceed, Spectre," Matsuo said calmly, as her companions lowered their weapons. "Parasini-san will meet you upstairs."

"Behave yourself," Sergeant Blondie sneered, unable to resist having the last word.

Ignoring her, I nodded to Captain Matsuo and led the team into the foyer. Small, but spacious. With a few pieces of artwork that failed to bring some life to the cold and soulless interior. Spying some sort of information centre ahead, we went up the stairs. Some drones were hovering overhead, sweeping the area with some kind of detection beam. As we crossed them, alarms went off.

"Weapons detectors. Don't mind the alarms," a woman said. Judging by her voice, she was the one who'd averted a potentially icky situation. She was dressed in some kind of blazer and long skirt. I suppose it looked business-like. Hard to say, given that the material appeared to be hot-pink rubber. Must be really uncomfortable. Another advantage of the military dress code. Well, except for the dress uniforms. They always chafe.

"I'm Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis," she introduced herself. Her words were phrased in what I can only describe as a sweet tone. Very polite, very warm, very PR. "We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."

"I appreciate your help," I replied.

"You're welcome," she said, tilting her head in a slight nod. "You understand our security chief was only doing her job?"

"Of course," I smiled reassuringly.

Parasini smiled back. "One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"

"There seems to be a fair amount of security for such a small port," I observed.

"The Executive Board does everything in its power to protect the privacy of our client corporations," Parasini smoothly replied.

Uh huh. And I'm sure all the corporate bigwigs have their silk underwear in a twist over some Spectre, who might run amok in a most unprofitable manner. "I'm not here to dig out corporate secrets," I assured her.

"That's gratifying to hear," she smiled.

"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?" I asked.

"Unusual?" Parasini frowned, thinking for a moment. "An asari Matriarch passed through here recently," she finally said. "Matriarch Benezia."

"Benezia?" Liara immediately pounced. "She is here?"

"Can I speak with her?" I said, covering for Liara's obvious shock.

"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex days ago," Parasini responded. "To the best of my knowledge, she's still there."

"That's where I need to be, then," I decided.

Naturally, it wasn't quite that simple. "You'll have to speak with Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port," she explained sweetly.

Stifling a sigh with years of practice, I asked "Where can I find the administrator?"

"His office is on the main level," she said pleasantly. "Left, at the top of the elevator."

My paranoid streak was starting to stir, but I couldn't figure out why. All I could gather was that Parasini was scoring high marks for the perfect PR assistant. Pleasant, polite, courteous. Nothing else that I could see. Something seemed off, though. Maybe it was her tone. Seemed too sugary.

Giving up, I asked if we could proceed. Parasini graciously confirmed that, and added that we could find her outside the administrator's office if we had any other questions.

"She is here," Liara said, still stunned, as Parasini left. "I cannot believe it." She hesitated for a moment, before adding "I imagine you want to talk to me, Shepard." Seeing the confused look on my face, she added "About my mother."

Right. Possible conflicted loyalties about going up against her mother, which could bite the rest of us in our collective asses. Cursing myself for not thinking of that, I gave her Hero Smile #4 (I'm a Hero and I Believe in You). "No, I don't," I quickly replied. "I trust you, Liara. You may not be military, but you're part of my crew."

"Thank you, Shepard," Liara smiled gratefully. "That means a great deal to me."

Now that the trust issues had been handled, I decided to double back and touch bases with Captain Matsuo. She seemed like a decent sort, unless I was completely mistaken. Usually I'm not. **(2)** Might as well clear the air.

"Commander," Matsuo greeted me. "I apologize for my rudeness when you arrived. I mean no disrespect. I have a responsibility to protect the safety and privacy of corporations here. The arrival of an Alliance warship was unexpected."

I waved off her apology. "No harm done," I assured her.

"That is a generous attitude. My thanks. Is there anything I can do for you today, Commander?"

I repeated my question about security, hoping to get a more definitive answer from the captain on the front lines, so to speak. I was not disappointed.

"I am sure Parasini-san gave you the ultra-special blah-blah about business here." She continued after I nodded. "Everyone wants to be protected from everyone else. But everyone also thinks they have a special right to kick over everyone else."

"Don't they have their own security forces?" I asked.

Matsuo closed her eyes and sighed. "Everything from hackers to mercenaries. They have investments to protect, after all. But we are the only ones allowed to bear arms. Which is why the companies _constantly _try to bribe my people. I have a clear policy against freelancing. Anyone who works on the side is fired."

"What else does your job involve?" I inquired, feeling some sympathy for her. If I was stuck in that situation, I would've volunteered to go back to the front lines, risk to my neck be damned.

"Most of my job is diplomacy," she replied. "Two corps start yelling at each other, my people walk in, flash some ceramic and they start talking civilly. If there is anything this job has taught me, it's how to be impartial."

"No doubt," I commiserated. It suddenly occurred to me that she was standing outside the entrance to Port Hanshan. Still. "Is it normal for you to post yourself here?"

Matsuo shook her head. "All the companies have secrets. Some of them deal in things that are not quite legal. Having a Spectre here makes them nervous. Anoleis-sama is buried under petitions to kick you offworld."

And all that nervousness would increase the likelihood of those civvies doing stupid things. Like attack the Normandy. What? With my luck, it's entirely possible. "You're actually protecting the Normandy from the companies, aren't you?"

"I am protecting them from themselves," she corrected me. "They do not have the personnel or training to assault an Alliance frigate."

Damn straight. Even if I took the best soldiers with me, the crew still on board were more than capable of fending off hired goons.

"Tell me about yourself," I said, changing the subject.

For the first time, a slight, self-deprecating smile spread over Matsuo's face. "You first. I'm just a security guard. I heard that there were no human Spectres. How did you get that job?"

After a second's thought, I decided to maintain some mystique. She'd expect that, what with me being a Spectre and all. Besides, I figured she was used to people keeping their big mouth shut. "I'm sorry. I'd prefer not to talk about it," I replied, looking and sounding like I really wanted to do the exact opposite. "No offense."

"I suspected it might involve things you couldn't talk about," she nodded understandingly. "I have non-disclosure agreements, too. I served in the marines for a decade before mustering out and going private sector. I was under fire a few times, so I ended up leading this detail."

Ah. Makes sense, I thought.

After I said my goodbyes, we headed for the elevators. After suffering through the inevitably slow ride (and the cheerful automated reply that welcomed us to Port Hanshan, warned us to obey the security personnel, and directed any questions we might have to the administrative staff), we popped out onto the plaza. Long open spaces, with a series of steps dividing the enormous room into sub-levels. Various rows of plant-life added some colour to the room, in an attempt to cheer up the place. The ceiling consisted of a slanted set of windows, through which we could clearly see a blizzard howling.

Silently hoping that the corporate bigwigs didn't go cheap on the window expenses, I led the team down the stairs to my left. I tried to say hello to any passersby I saw along the way, but was met with nothing but suspicious stares. The only response I received came from some woman in a business suit, who told us that everyone was warned not to speak with us. News travels fast, I guess.

Giving up, we took a left once we got down to the main floor and entered a long corridor, with walls that stretched to a high ceiling. Kind of like the Presidium, only narrower and without any sense of warmth. At the end was another door, which opened into a foyer of sorts. In the distance, Parasini was sitting at a desk, in front of a tall wall. I guessed, correctly, as it turned out, that Anoleis' office was behind it.

After briefly talking to her about the facilities available on Noveria and some of the major companies who invested here, I asked to see Anoleis.

"One moment, please. Mr. Anoleis?" she said sweetly, activating the comm.

In contrast, the voice that came back was hurried and abrupt, with a healthy dose of rudeness. **(3)** "Yes! What? What!"

"Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir," Parasini replied, completely unfazed by the rude response.

"Right. Fine. Come in."

Following Parasini's gesture, we walked around the retaining wall and entered Anoleis' office. He was typical of most salarians I'd met: tall and slim, both in body and facial characteristics. Two "horns" protruding from his head. Grey skin. Large eyes. Busy doing seven things at once.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up," he said crisply, not even bothering to look up from his multiple consoles. "I have no time to entertain space-born vagabonds."

"I see you looked up my service records," I said mildly, ignoring his jibe about my origins.

"Only a fool enters negotiations without knowledge of the other party's tendencies," he retorted. "This meeting is only a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required. Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of galactic law," he added, finally looking me in the eye.

"Are you telling me you have no safety protocols?" I asked, trying to see if I could put the pencil-pusher off-guard. In my experience, his type was more likely to let slip interesting tidbits of information if they were flustered.

"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. "Do you think a for-profit company would have no precautions against loss of life and material? Project leads have the final say here, not meddlesome politicians."

"Do you do business with Saren?" I asked, continuing my game of Twenty Random Questions. Though maybe it wasn't so random, what with Saren sticking his talons in every piece of galactic pie and all.

My hunch paid off. "Agent Saren? One of your Spectre compatriots?" Anoleis sounded surprised, as if he'd expected all Spectres to share notes or something. "He is a major investor in Binary Helix, one of Noveria's backers."

I suddenly remembered our conversation with Liara when we first met her on Therum, and what she told us about Saren, her mother, and Binary Helix. "Is Binary Helix developing anything for him? Any weapons, perhaps?"

"It's possible, given his interests. What our clients do in their labs is their business."

"I've heard an asari Matriarch passed through here? Matriarch Benezia?"

"She arrived a few days ago, accompanied by a personal escort and some cargo," Anoleis confirmed. "She is up at Peak 15."

"What can you tell me about her cargo?"

"Large, heavy and sealed. It passed weapons screening. Beyond that, it is not our concern."

Don't ask, don't tell. Clearly not just for the military.

"You mentioned that Benezia was accompanied by a 'personal escort'. What did you mean by that?"

"The phrase is self-explanatory," he answered condescendingly. "Bodyguards attending to the safety of her person. Mainly asari commandos."

I was so overcome with shock, Garrus jumped in before I could respond. **(4)** "Commandos? You didn't think that odd?"

"They followed all our regulations," Anoleis replied, sounding slightly defensive for the first time. "I had no reason to forbid Lady Benezia from taking them."

"What brought her out here?" I asked, having recovered from my uncharacteristic lapse.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be at liberty to say," he said smugly. "She came here as Agent Saren's executor. She is here on business for Binary Helix. There were issues at Peak 15 that required Saren's attention."

"I'd like to see her," I said. "Immediately."

"I'm afraid that you cannot," Anoleis said. "Peak 15 is a private facility in the Skadi Mountains. Regardless, there is a blizzard in the area. Shuttles are grounded and surface access has been cut off."

"'Surface access', you say?" I drawled.

"'_Cut off_,' I said," Anoleis emphasized. "The roads are not suitable for travel. Don't make an issue of this, Shepard."

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Kaidan lean in towards me. "Forget him, Commander," he whispered. "If he won't help us, I'm sure someone else here will."

He had a point. There must be some corporate bigwig here who found him as abrasive as I did. Or wanted to take him down. Whatever works.

"I have no more questions at this time," I concluded.

"Good. I received a dozen urgent messages while you dithered about," Anoleis muttered acidly.

Parasini had an amused look on her face when we left. "You've never worked in the corporate world, have you, Commander? You can't bludgeon your way through bureaucracy."

"So it would seem," I smiled graciously. "Could you suggest any alternatives?"

In a flash, the sweet smile dropped from her face, replaced by a look of urgency. "Talk to Lorik Qui'in," she whispered. "You should be able to find him at the hotel bar, in the mezzanine." She glanced around nervously. "I can't say more. Not within earshot of Mr. Anoleis."

Clearly there was more to this administrative assistant than met the eye. However, my paranoid streak wasn't raising any alarms; even though it was clear she had an agenda. I decided to play along, thanked her for her time and left the office.

"Commander," Garrus said as we exited. "'Lorik Qui'in' is a common turian name."

"Good to know," I responded. I didn't want to draw any attention by asking every single person we ran across to point him out, after all.

After crossing the plaza and going through another elevator ride, we arrived on the mezzanine level.

It only took a minute or two to locate Qui'in. He was the only turian in the hotel bar. He was sipping a drink, his every move suggesting a certain poise and refinement, but without any exaggeration or flair that would indicate he was showing off or putting on airs.

"Afternoon," he greeted us in a warm, friendly voice as we approached. "Sit down. Have a drink." I shook my head politely. I was on duty, after all. More importantly, the rest of my squad was watching, and I had a reputation to uphold. "What can I do for you?" he asked politely.

I decided to start off with some idle small talk. "Did you see an asari Matriarch pass through here?"

"Yes, Lady Benezia," he answered. "She caused quite a stir. It is not every day a Matriarch arrives with a guard detail of commandoes."

"Is it the commandoes, or is it so unusual to see a Matriarch?"

"Matriarchs rarely venture beyond asari space," he explained. "To see such an esteemed figure is surprising." Then he chuckled. "Lady Benezia was also dressed for her role. An asari in a pin-striped suit set tongues wagging among the younger male employees. So to speak."

Behind me, Liara sighed. "Young males have an unhealthy obsession with my species."

"I blame the extranet," Ashley commiserated.

"I can't believe armed commandoes were allowed on Noveria," I marvelled.

"I don't know if they were disarmed," he allowed. "Of course, one cannot confiscate biotic powers. Benezia is the executor of a turian named Saren Arterius, who is quite an important person. By that, I mean an investor who might sell stock if denied."

"Are you Lorik Qui'in?" I continued, moving on to the real reason for our conversation. "I heard you might be able to help me."

"I am," he confirmed. "You are the Spectre that just arrived, are you not? What can an old turian like me possibly help you with?" he asked pleasantly.

"I'm trying to find a way into the garage. I have places to go," I replied simply.

"And you need a pass," Qui'in finished for me. "How fortuitous.

"I'm the manager of the local Synthetic Insights office," he explained. "For the moment, at least. Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption."

"What? No!" I asked in a shocked voice. "Why would he think an 'old turian like you' might be corrupt?"

"Because the administrator is an interesting man," he replied. "He has become quite wealthy since he took 'direct control' of rents."

"I sense a connection here," I said dryly.

"Indeed," Qui'in echoed my tone. "I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it.

"I suspect your goal lies outside this port," he said shrewdly. "Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander. If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits."

Curiouser and curiouser, I thought.

"How did you get a pass?" I asked.

"I am a manager," he replied simply. "Most executives on Noveria are free to come and go as they please."

"More to the point, why didn't Anoleis cancel your pass clearance?"

Qui'in seemed to find this particularly amusing. "Why should he?" he laughed. "There's nothing outside but snow and hungry nathak."

"You have a plan," I asked, somewhat rhetorically, now that my curiosity had been satisfied.

"I do," Qui'in nodded. "However, there is one other... what is that charming human expression? 'Fly in the...' lotion?"

"Close enough," I said, motioning for him to continue.

"Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs may be required. He has members of Hanshan's security team searching my office."

Wouldn't Captain Matsuo be interested to hear that, I thought sourly, repressing a grimace at the thought of another impending firefight.

As if he read my mind, Qui'in added "He is paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their 'outside employment.'"

She must be, given her earlier words about dealing with anyone caught working on the side.

"I'll focus on trying to get your evidence," I finally said. "If I'm lucky, I won't have to fight anyone."

"Excellent," Qui'in beamed. "Here is my pass into my office. It will activate the plaza elevator, outside the garage." He handed the pass over, along with an OSD. "The evidence is on my computer, in my personal office. This OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Simply slide it into the drive, and it will auto-execute."

He had one more thing to say as we turned away: "Oh, and do try to keep blood stains off the carpets, would you?"

I would have been exasperated by the single-mindedness of this corporate bigwig, were it not for the humour that was clearly colouring his last words.

* * *

Qui'in's office pass worked like a charm. Got us into his office, just like he said.

Wish everything else went so smoothly. We'd scarcely set foot in the office before we bumped into some ERCS officers.

"Freeze!" one of the officers called out. "Hanshan security. This office is sealed."

"What are you doing in this office?" I asked, playing the naive newcomer.

"The administrator's orders. Lorik Qui'in is under investigation."

It was entirely possible that Parasini and Qui'in were playing me. Maybe they were in cahoots or something. I doubted it, but I thought I'd double-check: "Anoleis is paying you to shake this place down. Does Captain Matsuo know you're here?"

The look of guilt and sheer panic that flashed across their faces was all the proof we needed. They'd barely lifted their weapons up when we gunned them down.

Within seconds, we heard cries from the sides, as our HUDs started lighting up with targets. Three targets ahead of us; three more at... well, three o'clock. I ordered my team forward to take out the former. Not because I have a death wish, mind you. More like, in these kinds of urban combat situations, seizing the initiative and taking the fight to them is a hell of a lot safer than waiting for them to funnel into my line of sight—mostly because they're usually in overwhelming numbers.

While Team Two stayed behind to guard the elevator and prevent anyone else from leaving, Wrex, Garrus and I moved forward. The first guy stupid enough to pop his head out lost his shields in short order. Rather than duck back under cover or return fire, he started tapping his omni-tool. Not wanting to find out what nasty trick he was whipping out, I interrupted things with a nice head-shot. Not with my sniper rifle, unfortunately, but hey, a head-shot's a head-shot.

That drew out his partners: another human and a turian. Garrus dealt with the former, disabling his shields with a tech mine before finishing him off with his assault rifle. Wrex took a more personal approach by using his biotics to slam the latter into the ground. Then, after looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone else to deal with, he walked over to the turian, planted a foot on his chest to keep him down and shot him point-blank with his shotgun.

He looked defiantly at Garrus. "Got a problem with how I dealt with the turian, C-Sec?"

"Going the extra mile to punish a dirty cop?" Garrus shrugged. "Go right ahead."

Wrex seemed mildly surprised. I guess it was understandable. Garrus might have left C-Sec, but part of him was still a cop, and he probably took cop corruption a little personally. Even if they were only rent-a-cops.

By that point, Kaidan and Team Two had dealt with the other rent-a-cops who had attempted to back up their colleagues. Since we had a moment's breathing room, I led the team on a bout of scrounging. Don't ask me why, but we managed to pick up quite a few items. Guess even the cheerful and pleasant Qui'in had a few shady transactions going on, if he needed to keep shotguns, sniper rifles and grenade mods lying around.

Having cleared the first level, we moved on to the next, where one more rent-a-cop was cowering. Since he didn't see us, I took the opportunity to pull out my sniper rifle and take him out. Line up the kill shot, breathe out, re-focus... god, I miss the days when I could pound the enemy from a distance. Anyways, once that guy was dealt with, we were free to methodically search every office on that level, swiping anything that wasn't locked up—and grabbing everything that was. Eventually, we found Qui'in's personal computer and downloaded the evidence.

Naturally, there was a greeting party waiting for us when we got out. Six guards, plus Sergeant Blondie.

"I don't think you're supposed to be here, Shepard," she said, still attempting to sound menacing.

"No, I'm not. Neither are you, Miss..." I deliberately avoided greeting her by her rank. Mainly because I wanted to piss her off.

"I'm Sergeant Kaira Stirling, Elanus Risk Control Services," she drawled. "Anoleis would throw you offworld for what you did here. I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on my world?"

"Don't give us that righteous crap," Garrus snapped back. "Your men are dirty, Sergeant. You're here off-duty, breaking the law for bribe money."

"Turian's right," Wrex rumbled, much to our surprise. "You know what we did to dirty cops on my world?"

We all knew how this would turn out. For the sake of my heroic reputation, however, I had to at least pretend to try and avert hostilities. "I didn't want to fight them. They fired first."

"Well, I don't need a gun to rip you to pieces," Blondie snarled, moving into a suspiciously familiar gesture. Much to my dismay, the air around her started to ripple as blue particles coalesced into a shimmering field.

Great, I thought sourly. The lead dirty rent-a-cop was also a biotic. How did I keep picking these odds, anyways?

"Kaidan," I called out.

Kaidan responded with a wave of biotics, beating Blondie to the punch. Made it real easy for to take them down.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blondie start to get up. Garrus had seen her first, though, and was already on the move. She had just gotten back to her feet when Garrus strode up, reversed his grip on his assault rifle, and knocked her back down with a rifle-butt in the face. Then, he planted a foot on her and opened fire, mimicking Wrex's earlier actions.

"Huh," Wrex admired. "Looks like C-Sec's starting to grow a quad. **(5)** 'Bout time."

Ignoring him for the moment, I walked towards Garrus, who was still looking down at his handiwork.

"Felt good?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Got it out of your system now?"

To my relief, he got the hint. "Yes."

"Commander," Kaidan called out. "We've still got a few more hostiles."

He was right. Two more rent-a-cops hiding on the ground level. With the high ground on my side, it was almost too easy to take them out with my sniper rifle. Heck, I could even use the ledge to prop up the rifle, leaving my arms free to absorb the recoil.

Now that this little jaunt was over, we went down the stairs and down the elevator. Interestingly, Parasini was waiting for us when we stepped out.

"Commander," she greeted me sweetly. There've been reports of noise from the Synthetic Insights office. Would you know anything about it?"

"It's probably Anoleis' thugs ripping the place apart," I said casually.

"Smartass, huh?" she said thoughtfully. "That's fine. I can work with that."

Then she leaned towards me. "Meet me in the hotel bar, _before _you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting."

Now that my curiosity was _really _piqued, I did as she requested. She was standing by a table, nursing a drink. While the squad hung back, far enough so they didn't draw attention by crowding around the table; close enough to remain within earshot, I joined her at the table.

"Allow me to re-introduce myself," she said. Her voice was dropped the sugary sweetness entirely, replaced by a tone that was much more crisp, business-like, and intelligent. It suited her, I thought. "Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs."

Figures. "Why is an Internal Affairs agent here?" I asked.

"The Executive Board knows about Anoleis' corruption. I've been undercover for six months. I want you to convince Qui'in to testify before the Board. With his evidence, Noveria can run profitably again."

"I take it you couldn't find anything on Anoleis' records?" I surmised.

She snorted. "He's a crook, not a moron."

"Look, Qui'in's over there. Why don't you ask him directly?"

Parasini gave me an incredulous look. "I'm Anoleis' secretary! You think he'd believe me? That he'd meet me in some 'dark alley' with his evidence?"

"Good point," I conceded. "It's interesting how you're so concerned with Anoleis' corruption. I was starting to think that was the rule here on Noveria."

"The rule is 'don't rock the boat,'" Parasini corrected. "Self-interest is tolerated if it doesn't interfere with business. Anoleis is driving customers away."

I let a note of regret enter my voice. "I want to help you. But I need Qui'in's garage pass to complete my mission."

As I'd hoped, Parasini took the bait. "You help my investigation, I'll provide whatever you need. Favour for a favour."

This was exactly what I wanted, but I wasn't going to immediately answer. Wouldn't do to let others think I could be swayed so easily. Liara clearly fell for it, as she whispered behind me: "In the long run, it is better to remove the source of the problem."

Parasini overheard her advice. "Look, Shepard, I don't like this. You Spectres play fast and loose with the law. That's bad for business."

"Funny coming from the organization that set up here to avoid galactic law," I pointed out. "But... all right. I'll talk to Qui'in and see if I can convince him."

"Thank you," she replied. It was clear that she had her doubts, but at least she seemed a bit calmer. While she was still here, though... "Do you know why the Matriarch is here?"

"Something to do with Peak 15. She arrived after we received their Code Omega—automated warning of a containment breach. She came with an escort of asari commandoes. They took the last shuttle up to Peak 15 with a load of crates.

"Do you know what she had in the crates?"

"No idea. The commandoes wouldn't let anyone near them. They seemed heavy, though."

This Code Omega was something new. I decided to ask her about it, so I had a better sense of what deathtrap I was walking into this time.

"Code Omega means a terminal breach of safety protocols. No one goes up until the crew sends an all-clear."

"And if the crew never sends one?"

"The Executive Board votes whether or not to destroy the facility. One antimatter warhead from the battle stations vaporizes all contaminants."

Hmm. Crude, but effective. I liked it. As long as I was far, far away when the warhead went boom, of course.

"You don't know anything else?"

"That's all I've got," Parasini shrugged. "No one knows what's going on up there."

"All right," I said. "I'd better go talk to Qui'in."

"You know where I work. Come talk to me once you know if he'll play ball."

* * *

Qui'in greeted me with his usual warmth. "Always a pleasure, Spectre. Any news into that matter I asked you to look into."

"I finished the job," I answered. "But an Internal Affairs investigator contacted me. She wants you to testify against Anoleis."

"Now that you have my property, you want to dictate how I use it?" Qui'in seethed. "I have no interest in a public spectacle."

"Everyone on this station is chafing under Anoleis' extortion," I said, calling on all my persuasive skills as a goddamned hero. "You might end up a hero," I added. Might as well spread the fun around.

"My employers rely on the goodwill of the Executive Board to work here," he pointed out.

"If the 'executives' don't blame Anoleis for provoking this, they're fools. You should eat them," Wrex barked.

"The Board is already investigating Anoleis anyways," Garrus added. "They'll be angrier with him than at you."

Qui'in sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. "All right! It is obvious that I cannot dissuade you. Make whatever arrangements you need with your contact. I will wait here."

Before I talked to my 'contact,' I thought I'd check in with Captain Matsuo. Not sure why, exactly. Seemed like something people would expect of me, I guess, given what just happened. **(6)**

"Good day, Commander," she said politely. "I wonder: how have you been spending your time?"

"Why do you ask?" I responded.

"There was a break-in at the Synthetics Insights office. Several of my officers were killed. You wouldn't know anything, would you?"

She sounded as if she expected a denial. Probably got that a lot, along with the rest of the corporate bullshit.

"That was me, actually."

"I see," she said coldly. "Would you care to explain?"

"Anoleis bought them off. He had them researching the Synthetic Insights office for his own interest."

Matsuo's eyes flared. For a minute, I wondered if she was going to take her anger out on me. Then she spoke, and I realized her frustration was targeted at another party, for other reasons. "That is all too likely. Sergeant Sterling was highly mercenary. If that is true, I bear no ill will towards you."

She started pacing, muttering angrily. "I warned my people against taking jobs on the side. _This _is what comes of it." Then she realized that we were still there. "I appreciate your honesty, Commander. If you'll excuse me, I must compose the letters to notify their families."

Now that the air was clear, I was free to double back and see Parasini.

"Spectre," she greeted me formally. "Have you given any more consideration to my offer?"

"It took some convincing, but Qui'in agreed to testify."

Her shoulders sagged in relief as she sighed. "That's a world of stress off my shoulders. I'll take that evidence for safe transport."

I handed over the data, even though she hadn't offered any compensation. If she chose to renege on her part of the deal, I figured I could always shoot her.

"I didn't think you'd help me. Being a Spectre and all. I guess some of you can be all right."

"I can't speak for other Spectres," I replied.

She nodded her understanding. "While you were working on Qui'in, I got you a garage pass." Handing it over, she added "Be careful up there."

"You look tired," I observed.

"I'm ecstatic, actually. But, yeah, I feel like a long day of work is ending."

"I know what that's like," I commiserated.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have an arrest to make." She sighed again. "Wish I had time to change into something easy to move in. I hate skirts."

She turned away and walked into Anoleis' office. We decided to stay behind and get some free entertainment. We were not disappointed.

"This is an outrage," we heard Anoleis holler. A second later, we saw him in handcuffs, being dragged along by Parasini. "I'll see that you never work in this sector again."

"Yeah, yeah, get a move on," Parasini said.

"You! Shepard!" Anoleis had finally noticed our presence. "I demand you place this bitch under arrest."

"Wouldn't know how," I said innocently. "I'm just a 'space-born vagabond,' remember?"

"You have the right to remain silent," Parasini told him. "I wish to God you'd exercise it."

That done, she pushed him towards the door. "See you around the galaxy, Commander," she called over her shoulder. "I owe you a beer."

"Well, that was satisfying," Garrus said. "Now what, Commander?"

"Now we see what's in his office safe," I replied, already heading towards his (former) office.

There was nothing there but a couple weapons mods. Cheap bastard.

* * *

With that done, there was nothing more to do but poke around. Picked up a few items from the hanar merchant there, and turned down a request to smuggle something in for him. He was only offering a couple hundred credits, anyways. Some asari wanted me to pretend to talk to a Binary Helix rep while loading some viruses onto their intranet. Instead, I spilled the beans to the rep and told her what I did. She complimented me on my unique and "devious" perspective before running to get offworld. At least, I think it was a compliment.

Finally, we made it to the garage. The only vehicle we could see was a M29 Grizzly. I barely managed to stifle a groan. Those things were bulkier and more unwieldy than the Mako.

Then our HUDs went down. Geth stalkers started jumping all over the place, trying to get a bead on us so they could take out our shields, while destroyers emerged from behind some crates and charged at us.

"I'd say that's what the Matriarch was hiding in those crates," Ashley cursed as we ducked for cover.

"Probably," I said tersely. "Team Two, keep those destroyers away from us and try to put them down. Team One, take out the stalkers."

With that division of labour, it didn't take long to win that battle. Naturally, Captain Matsuo and her guards arrived just as we were mopping things up.

"What the... what are those things?" I heard her cry from behind me. "Fan out and secure the area! No one gets in or out!"

"What's going on here, Commander?" she asked, coming up to me.

"The geth attacked us," I replied simply.

"Geth? You expect me to believe..." she stopped herself as what she was seeing finally registered. "Where did they come from?" she started again.

"The asari bitch came with a bunch of cargo," Wrex rumbled. He glanced over at Liara belatedly, but she was too busy staring at the geth bodies herself. "They were probably packed in there," he continued.

"I do not believe that. We did thorough scans. There were no power sources, no element zero masses..." she paused again, and her face paled. "If Benezia-sama's containers were packed with those things, there are many more out there."

"I need numbers, Captain," I said urgently. "Dozens? Hundreds?"

Matsuo shrugged helplessly. "Dozens, at least. They are machines. You could pack them tightly." Then she groaned. "I must report to the Executive Board. If word gets out about loose geth, there could be an investor panic."

"Take a minute to catch your breath first," I advised.

"I only have a minute to spare," she returned wryly before departing.

A bit more searching uncovered some more ammo blocks and a Mako. Never thought I'd be happy to see one of those things. Even better, this one was all prepped, armed and ready to go. No repairs needed.

My paranoid streak figured there was a catch somewhere. Sure enough, we'd scarcely covered a couple kilometres when we came across a bridge. One guarded by a geth weapons turret and over two dozen geth—most with rocket launchers.

The weather conditions outside gave us extra incentive to stay sharp while we dealt with these obstacles. If we had to bail for any reason, we'd only survive a couple minutes before our hardsuit regulators gave out and we froze to death.

Once that was done, we quickly popped out for what must have been the fastest round of looting so far this mission before heading on our way.

"C-Commander," Ashley managed to get out despite her chattering teeth, "permission t-to speak f-freely?"

"Granted."

"You think we could skip looking for supplies for the duration of this mission? At least, while we were outside?"

Before I could answer, we got across the bridge, where we were greeted by a couple rocket troopers. Not so surprising.

The geth armature accompanying them... definitely a surprise.

Once we took care of them, I drove the Mako over to some nearby wreckage, where the sensors had detected some crates. Deferring to Ashley's complaint, I went to loot them by myself. After all, I was the only one suffering from that particular obsession. After I got back, I squirmed around to face the squad.

"Did anyone back at Port Hanshan actually say how _large _Benezia's crates were?" I asked. "It seems odd that she managed to smuggle a _weapons turret_ and an _armature_ past security."

"We were discussing that while you were outside," Garrus admitted. "While my respect for the thoroughness of their screening leaves much to be desired, that does seem curious."

It was Tali who came up with the most likely answer. "Saren and Benezia may have brought such geth or equipment disassembled, and later put them together and activated them once they left the port. They had plenty of time to do so, given how Binary Helix has been here for many years."

"And all the geth Benezia just brought over would have supplemented those forces big-time," Ashley groaned. "We're going to face a lot more geth before we reach Peak 15."

"At least there won't be any dropships coming by to provide reinforcements," Kaidan offered. "Noveria's defence grid would probably repel them."

That was the only bright side, as Ashley's predictions proved accurate. In many ways, it was like Therum: long twisting roads filled with geth. Just replace the uncomfortably warm air with freezing cold and the lava pools with deep, seemingly endless ravines and it's a dead ringer.

It was with some relief that we destroyed the last set of weapons turrets and arrived at Peak 15. Even though Makos are spec'd to withstand all sorts of hostile environments, including Noveria's, I could swear my blood was starting to congeal. Everybody hurried out of the Mako and into the Peak 15 complex.

We found ourselves in a loading dock that opened into an adjacent cargo bay. One that, if our sensors were accurate—and with my luck, they probably were—was filled with potential hostiles.

Cautiously, I motioned Team Two forward. The cargo bay doors must have operated on motion sensors, because they automatically retracted into the ceiling as soon as they got close.

To my dismay, there were at least four krogan milling around. And a geth juggernaut that had a small drone following it around like a dumb puppy.

If the geth wasn't there, we might have gotten the drop on the krogan, as they didn't notice us at first. Unfortunately, the juggernaut was alert, immediately swivelling in our direction and firing a rocket at us.

Yelling in unison, Team Two jumped back, taking cover by the right hand side of the cargo bay doors. I would have found that mildly interesting, were I not frantically hosing down the geth along with Team One. Unfortunately, the juggernaut was ridiculously resilient. Time and time again we'd drain its shields and start chipping away at its armour, only to see them magically restore themselves, even after Team Two added their firepower. I had half a mind to pause and run a quick diagnostic on my hardsuit sensors, despite the poor timing for such maintenance checks.

Then I noticed the drone swoop towards the juggernaut, pause for a moment, and swoop away just as its shields started to regenerate.

Tali came to the same conclusion: "That drone! Next to the juggernaut! It must have a repair protocol. It's fixing the geth!"

"Team One, keep firing at the geth! Team Two, take out the drone!" I ordered.

Thankfully, the krogan chose to take cover behind some crates and fire at us, rather than charging into melee combat. If they had done the latter, things would have been a lot dicier. As it was, we were able to take out the drone and the juggernaut in short order. After that, the krogan were a piece of cake.

I was mildly peeved to discover that there was remarkably little to loot in the cargo bay, given all the aggravation it had caused us. It was with some annoyance that I led the squad into the adjoining corridor.

One that had two turrets pointed _inwards_, away from us.

"Why are the turrets facing the wrong way?" Tali asked, clearly puzzled by this unusual setup.

It was Garrus who answered first: "Binary Helix must want to keep their people in as much as they want to keep others out."

I had no doubt that he was right. Which raised the obvious question: what the heck was important enough to warrant extra precautions; ones designed to prevent people _leaving _an already isolated facility in the middle of nowhere?

Naturally, I was about to find out.

* * *

_(1): Shepard's rude and somewhat stereotypical nickname for this individual is partly due to the character flaws which he perceived were the root of her antagonism. They are also an expression of his contempt, for reasons that readers will soon see._

_(2): It appears that Shepard considers his encounter with Nassana Dantius to be the exception to the rule._

_(3): It is not uncommon for salarians to speak quickly, by human standards, a product of their heightened intelligence and hyper-metabolism. _

_(4): The asari military are comprised of units that are organized within each community. Often in the "maiden" stage of their lives, these asari are professionals who hone their tactical prowess, agility and biotics. They specialize in special operations, particularly ambush, infiltration and assassination. As the popular turian saying goes: "the asari are the finest warriors in the galaxy. Fortunately, there are not many of them." _

_(5): A variant on the human saying regarding a connection between certain parts of the male anatomy and bravery, allowing for differences in krogan physiology. _

_(6): Shepard fails to add that this involved an extra elevator ride, which he normally avoided wherever possible. The fact that he was willing to endure this inconvenience belies his earlier comment about pandering to popular opinion. _


	21. Chapter 15

**Mass Effect: Accidental Hero of the Galaxy**

**Chapter 15**

After passing a set of turrets that were pointed inwards, we might have been a little more jumpy than usual. Even the obligatory round of scrounging was done with more haste than usual. And the tension in the elevator ride could probably be cut with a dull knife.

Consequently, it was almost a relief to deal with the geth we found in a rather large room. Our HUDs picked them up in advance, giving us plenty of time to prepare a suitable response. One involving lots of firepower, with the odd bit of tech and biotics prepped just in case.

Just as we downed the last geth, we heard an audible groan and creak, like something heavy pressing on metal.

"What was that," Ashley said, as we all raised our weapons and searched around. The lobby we were in was empty. There was a stairway leading up to a second floor, one whose corridors and rooms were clearly visible, thanks to their glass walls. They were also empty. So what the hell was that noise?

"Probably debris," Wrex said. "Don't have a panic attack. I'll protect you."

Turned out to be more than just debris. A dozen little green bugs suddenly darted down the stairs and charged towards us. My paranoid streak insisted that these guys probably weren't friendly, and prompted me to open fire. The rest of the squad followed suit—a good thing as it turned out. They had a nasty habit of exploding if they got too close, spraying their acidic insides around to dissolve anything it landed upon.

Did I mention that our barriers did squat against acid?

Our sighs of relief were cut short by shrieks from a pair of larger bugs. Large, brown bugs. They charged towards us on four of their six legs—the other two looking almost vestigial and were tucked against their carapace—waving a set of tentacles with really sharp pincers at the end. As they attacked, they traded our weapons fire for acid spit. Until they got into close range, that is, at which point they enthusiastically switched over to using their tentacles to bludgeon us to death. Or punch holes, I'm not sure. The only saving grace was that they didn't explode when we killed them.

"What were those things?" Garrus asked incredulously, after we took the last one down.

"I've never seen anything like them," Tali panted. "Maybe someone in the labs knows what they are."

Our questions would have to go unanswered for the time being, as we were the only ones there. Except for a couple more of those large bugs, who kept popping out of the vents whenever we got too close. In hindsight, we probably wouldn't have found them if I didn't keep searching every single room on the second floor for spare supplies. Probably a lesson there, somewhere.

Eventually we made our way to an elevator, which led us to a room filled with computer banks and generators. There were two doors facing each other at the far end of the room, bracketing an entrance into a dimmer, cylindrical chamber.

"Looks like a backup power system, Shepard," Tali said confidently. "For the station mainframe, probably in that chamber over there, I'd say."

"It should be easy to fix," Kaidan said. Looking around, he spotted a power junction. "Based on the layout, all we have to do is go over to that power junction and flip it on."

I walked over and, after taking a moment to examine the controls, flipped the switch.

"Critical error," a synthesized voice came over some hidden speakers. "Virtual intelligence interface offline. Manual boot required."

"Or not," Garrus murmured.

We went to the computer core chamber, which housed a hollow cylindrical floor-to-ceiling computer with a cut-out space on one side for a holographic projection system. Unfortunately, the damn thing was still offline.

On a hunch, I walked over the projection system and entered the interior of the computer core. Circuitry panel, circuitry panel... hmm. Another switch.

Pressing the switch, I stumbled for a moment as the platform I was standing on sank down into an inner chamber filled with red glowing lights. Well, now I could see the problem: several patches of circuitry were damaged or fused. Maybe I could bypass it.

"Shepard," Ashley called out. "What's going on down there?"

"Circuitry's blown," I called back. "I'm trying to bypass. Gimme a sec."

As it turned out, it was more like a couple minutes, but I managed to get a jury-rig set up. Looked like a kid's version of that ancient Tower of Hanoi game, but it should work, I thought. I reached over and manually turned on the power, praying I didn't just set up a short circuit that would fry me to a crisp.

To my delight, I heard the computer core start up. The platform automatically lifted back to the surface, where I quickly rejoined the squad. A second later, a holographic woman flickered into life.

"It looks like you are trying to restore this facility. Would you like help?" it politely asked.

"Uh, yeah. You're the VI that runs this place?"

"This system is programmed to respond to the name 'Mira.' May I ask your name?"

Well there's a first. "Why do you need to know?"

"To determine the data access available to you," Mira responded. "Basic Access is limited to non-secure queries. Secure Ac—"

"Commander Shepard. Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance," I interrupted before I got bored to death.

"One moment, please. Council authority confirmed. You are entitled to Secure Access of all systems. Please note that queries relating to corporate secrets require Privileged Access, which is available only to executives of Binary Helix."

Naturally.

"This system is ready to process queries. You may access me at any holographic interface within Peak 15."

"Where can I find Matriarch Benezia?" I started.

"Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tramway to the Rift Station subsidiary labs. User alert! The tramway system is currently inoperable."

Of course it was. "What happened?"

"One moment please. Diagnostics in progress. Critical failure: main reactor shut down in accordance with emergency containment procedures. Manual restart required. Critical failure: landline connections are disabled. Passenger tram systems are offline. Do you have an additional system status query?"

I quickly found out that the reactors were shut down to drop the ambient heat, in the hopes that the cold outside would kill or damage any biological or mechanical contagions, but could be restarted by manually opening the helium-3 fuel lines one level down. Unless it was idiot-proof, I had no idea how to do that. The landlines, on the other hand, could easily be restored by going to the roof and flicking a switch to re-connect the datalink cables.

"Kaidan, take Team Two down to fix the reactor. The rest of us will go topside," I decided. My paranoid streak was starting to stir, but I couldn't see why. Surely a little fresh air wouldn't hurt.

Garrus and Wrex followed me up to the roof, a fairly uneventful trip if ever I had one. I mean, the worst that could happen was getting frozen, right? Of course, that charming little illusion was shattered as soon as we emerged from the building and our HUDs started cluttering up with contacts. Lots of contacts.

Slowly, the three of us pulled out our weapons and started to advance. Step by step. Nothing so far. Step by step. Silently, I cursed all those damn pipes for cluttering up our line of sight. And the snow blowing in our faces.

Step by step.

How the hell were we supposed to properly defend ourselves if we couldn't even get eyes on target?

Step by...

Wait a sec. That sound. Was that...

...shrieking?

Aw, crap.

"Get—" I started to say, before a small green bug darted out, made a bee-line straight for us and blew itself up in our faces. Well, not literally, but it was bad enough. As the acid started to sizzle against our hardsuits, the shrieking rose to a din.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wrex put away his assault rifle and grab his shotgun. Good idea. At close range, the impact spread of a shotgun round would deal more damage to those mini-kamikazes than any other weapon. And if the green guys were at a greater range, then they weren't really a problem, were they?

"Wrex, take out the green bugs," I ordered. "Garrus, you and I'll tackle the big ones."

"You really think they're up here?" Garrus asked.

"I could be wrong," I admitted. Then I saw a large, brown mass moving through the flurry of snow towards us. "I'm still waiting for that, though," I added, motioning towards it.

"Yeah," Garrus sighed as he opened fire. "Me, too. No offense, Commander."

"Stop yammering in the middle of a firefight," Wrex barked.

The next few minutes were spent popping out behind cover, firing, and ducking back. All those pipes I was cursing earlier turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as they wound up absorbing the majority of the acid spit from the big bugs. Of course, they also meant that we had no warning whatsoever when their smaller cousins decided to charge at us.

Eventually, the HUD showed we were in the clear. Unless some of those bugs could mask themselves against our sensors, but we hadn't seen anything like that. If we had learned anything from our brief encounters, it was that these bugs were too damn aggressive to be sneaky. Then I took the opportunity to look at my hardsuit status, I was alarmed to see that its integrity was down to a sliver. Garrus's wasn't much better. As for Wrex, his hardsuit was at 31% or so, but his hardsuit could take more damage to begin with.

Before we left our much-corroded cover, I passed around a pack of medi-gel. Hardsuits might be designed to absorb damage for the grunts who were wearing them, but they couldn't take that much punishment without some of it leaking through—something that my acid-burned skin and screaming muscles could attest to. The sooner we administered some genetically-engineered cure-all, the sooner the hardsuits could divert power to the self-repair fabricators and start fixing itself. **(1)**

Once the hardsuits were well on their way to fixing themselves, we moved out to reconnect the landlines. There was another holo-plate nearby. Guess whoever designed this place wanted its users to access the VI whenever and wherever they wanted. Out of curiosity, I walked over and activated it.

"Connections restored," Mira stated, flickering to life. "Helium-3 fuel lines restored."

Guess Kaidan and his team completed their task. Hope they had less fun than we did.

"User alert! "

Now what?

"Loose contaminants detected in the tramway station."

Of course.

"Could you define 'loose contaminants'?" I asked.

"Dangerous biological contaminants are loose in the tramway station. The tram station has been sealed in the interest of crew safety."

First sensible thing I'd heard in a while. Especially as those "biological contaminants" probably consisted of big acid-spitting bugs and tiny exploding bugs with a death wish.

"Activation of the plasma jet failsafe is recommended prior to access," Mira continued.

"And how do I do that?"

"Controls for the failsafe systems are located in the security station outside the tramway. User alert! The failsafe system is currently inoperable."

Okay, you'd think the corporate bigwigs who set up this place would actually shell out a couple creds for halfway-decent equipment... wait a minute... never mind.

"What would it take to get the failsafe systems operational again?" I sighed.

"There is a hardware fault in the control system. This can be repaired on-site using any standard omni-tool."

"You said Matriarch Benezia is at this 'Rift Station,' right?"

"Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tram—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I interrupted. "What's going on at Rift Station? How're the staff holding up?"

"Rift Station has been locked down by the staff. There are presently no contaminants within the facility."

"The staff is alive, then?"

"Yes, though the number of personnel is below the official staff count."

Swell.

"Give me a status report on Rift Station."

"I am sorry. The network connections to the labs have been damaged. Data is limited."

I groaned to myself. This is why I hate VIs. You always have to drag information out of them. They're never user-friendly. Especially the "user-friendly" ones. I eventually learned that Rift Station boasted a variety of labs, including one dedicated for "hot lab" wetwork that required isolation of any hazardous material, whether biological, chemical or cybernetic. As an extra safety measure, the entire complex was housed _inside _an actual glacier. If something went seriously wrong, the staff had the option of irradiating the bottom of the complex. The resulting generation of heat would actually _melt _the underlying ice, sinking the complex into the ice—well, further in, anyways—where the cold would kill anything that got loose. Even cybernetic automatons wouldn't fare long in those kinds of conditions. The fact that that hadn't happened yet meant that we could still find out what Saren's second-in-command was doing here. Of course, it also meant that we'd definitely be walking into a deathtrap. Typical, really.

Once we got as much as we could out of Mira without physically yanking out its circuits, we headed back to the room outside the computer core, where we'd first attempted to power up Peak 15. As memory served, one of the doors in that room headed to the tramway. And the "loose biological contaminants," but one thing at a time.

Kaidan and Team Two were waiting for us when we arrived.

"I gather you succeeded," I started.

"We did," Kaidan acknowledged, "though it wasn't a piece of cake. We ran into some company along the way."

"More of those bugs, right?" I said.

"Uh... no. Geth, actually," Kaidan replied. "Did you encounter more bugs, Shepard?"

"On the roof," I admitted.

"Tough bastards," Wrex rumbled.

"Our hardsuits barely held up under the onslaught," Garrus added.

Team Two looked at each other. "Sounds like we got off easy," Ashley commented.

Don't remind me.

Without further ado, I led the squad to the security station outside the access tunnel to the tramway. It had nice floor-to-ceiling panes of transparent material, offering us a nice view of all the bugs that were crawling inside.

Spying the control console, Tali immediately headed over towards it. While she was tinkering with it, I noticed a blinking light on a nearby computer console. Looked like it was a audio log that hadn't been archived yet. Curious, I reached over and played it. Most of it was drowned out by static, but what we could make out didn't exactly set our minds at ease:

"... control group... loose in the... they're... can't escape. We're sorry. The project leads couldn't get to the... get out while you can." Then there was a pistol shot, followed by a continuous hiss of static.

"This man killed himself because he was part of whatever here?" Liara asked in disbelief.

"There must have been something he could do to help his comrades," Kaidan whispered.

"Unless those bugs forced his hand," Garrus said grimly.

Tali interrupted our cheerful little chat with the news that she'd fixed the failsafe. It's entirely possible that I moved over and entered in the activation sequence with a little too much enthusiasm. It's also entirely possible that we took a perverse joy in watching those retractable nozzles pop out from the walls of the access tunnel and barbecue the bugs with sprays of hot plasma. Of course, if anyone asks, I'll deny it.

After that, it was a simple matter of heading into the tunnel, dealing with any bugs that the jets missed and hopping on the tram. Next stop: Rift Station.

* * *

The ride itself was refreshingly dull and uneventful. As was the little trip through the foyer to a bank of elevators. One of them, which a brightly lit sign told us headed directly to the hot labs, was locked out. So we piled into the other elevator. I suppose I could've hacked the controls, but I wasn't really in a rush to head down into the maw.

After a minute, we arrived at our destination. Fastest elevator ride we'd had so far, or so it seemed. We headed down a corridor, rounded the corner, and saw a bunch of men in a room at the end of the hall. Men who jerked their weapons up as soon as they saw us.

"Stand down," their leader called out a second later. Shaved bald; dark skin that stood out against the white hardsuit he was wearing. Slightly less jumpy than his companions. As we entered the room, we saw that there were several crates carefully scattered around, providing numerous areas of shelter while simultaneously setting up fire-lanes. Looked like they'd been there for at least a couple days, too.

"Sorry," he apologized. "We couldn't be sure what was on the tram."

"I'd only be upset if they had fired," I replied, waving his apology away.

"Even hopped up on stims, my people know the rules: 'Two legs good, four legs bad.' Look. You're human. Well, some of you," he amended, acknowledging the non-humans that made up over half of the squad. "That's enough that I won't shoot. But I'd like to know who you are."

"My name's Shepard," I introduced myself. "I'm a Spectre," I added, recalling Mira's earlier inquiry.

"Huh. Didn't know they were letting humans into the Spectres." He shrugged. "Well, I won't look a heavily-armed gift horse in the mouth. Name's Ventralis," he said.

"Ventralis," I nodded. "What's the sitrep?"

"The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out," he explained.

"And he is..." I prompted.

"One of the scientists assigned to the hot labs," Ventralis elaborated. "Anyhow, he's the only survivor."

"So he might know what happened down there?"

"Maybe. He ain't all there anymore, though."

"But he was lucid enough to warn you about those aliens?"

"Actually, we found out about those bastards when they clawed their way into my command post." He looked around. "We had a lot more staff back then." _**  
**_

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I told himself. "You were taken by surprise and had civvies to protect. Looks to me like you did a hell of a job."

"Yeah?" he asked sceptically. "Sure as hell doesn't feel like it. The Board sent an asari to clean up the mess. She just showed up yesterday and headed for the hot labs. We haven't heard from her since."

"Benezia? Is she still over there?" Liara jumped in. Probably wanted to know where her mom was. I knew I was curious as well, albeit for different reasons.

Ventralis shrugged. "Guess so. She hasn't come back here. You guys came through Central Station, so she ain't there. Mind you, I don't see what one person can do." He rummaged in one of his pockets and pulled out a keycard. "In the meantime, there's an emergency elevator behind me that connects to the other levels on Rift Station. This card'll let you activate it. Oh, and if you need any first aid, Dr. Cohen's downstairs."

"Sounds good," I thanked him, taking the keycard. "No chance we can get into the hot labs?"

He shook his head. "Nuh uh. First thing I did when everything went to hell was to cut the hot labs off the network."

"So there's no way to know what's going on down there," Garrus concluded.

"Not without sending someone down the elevator to the hot labs. And I'm _not _sending my people to their death."

"Fair enough," I conceded. "What kind of research is done down there, anyways?"

"Beats me. I'm not supposed to know. So long as people didn't start dying, it wasn't my problem."

"And now?"

A disgusted look spread over his face. "You want my personal opinion? Labs like this exist to do stupid crap that gets people killed."

"How're you guys holding up," I asked, playing the concerned hero card. I looked around, to drive home that point. It was then that I noticed that the guards were paying an awful lot of attention to us. Odd, considering that they should have been paying more attention to the perimeter, where the bugs would likely come from. Unless the bugs were probably gonna pop out from under my feet, grab me, and drag me off for food, my paranoid streak suggested. I quashed that theory as soon as I glanced down and saw nothing but the floor. Last I saw, those bugs weren't able, or willing, to punch through solid materials like that. Still didn't explain why the guards kept staring. Didn't they have anything better to do?

Ventralis drew my attention back to him when he shook his head. "We weren't expecting the initial wave. We lost some good people. Those of us left have kept order by long shifts and stims. I don't like it, but I don't see an alternative.

"Well, we won't find out what 'stupid crap' they were doing over here," I concluded. "Guess it's time to get to work."

"Yeah, I hear th—" he broke off as a familiar shriek rang out. "Hell!" he cursed. "Man the perimeter!" he yelled to his guards, who were already moving towards cover.

It sounded like the noises were coming from our right. I quickly motioned Team Two to cover one half of the room while we took the over. We'd just set ourselves up when two of the large bugs hopped out of the nearby vents and opened... fire? Spit? Anyways, they attacked and we responded. The guards did a decent job too, given that they'd been mainlining stims for the past week. I suppose practise makes perfect. **(2)**

"You okay?" I asked, once the bugs were put down.

"Yeah," he panted. "Thanks for the help. Every few hours, a group comes up the tram tunnel. That was one of the smaller ones."

"No wonder your guards were so... alert when they saw us," I said. Now that the excitement, the guards were focused on me again. Kinda creepy, really.

"Believe it or not, we got lucky. Things actually got better once we locked down the elevator," he replied.

"Wait," Wrex interrupted. "They always attack here? Through those vents? Every time?"

"Hey… you're right," Ashley said. "I mean, I know they're just animals and all, but that's an obvious kill-zone."

Ventralis shrugged. "Well, their only other option is over the mountain and down through the ducts. Out there, they'd freeze just like anyone else." Then he shook his head. "I don't know why they keep throwing themselves against our defences, though. Even animals should know not to stick their noses where it hurts."

I quickly said my goodbyes and hurried the squad along. The guards were starting to creep me out, and I wanted to get moving before one of them made a pass at me. Hell, even Ventralis was doing it now.

* * *

Rather than take a trip down the elevator, I thought I'd check out who else was on this level. Anything to keep my ass out of the fire…

The first room we came across had a bunch of cranky guards, an elcor merchant who was selling anything Ventralis and his men hadn't already snatched up, a couple seriously traumatized scientists and an asari who looked like she was bored out of her skull. After seeing that the elcor, named Petozi, didn't really have anything left worthwhile buying, the asari looked like the most interesting person.

"What?" she snapped when I said hello.

"You seem less upset at this situation than the others."

"That is one of the virtues of the meditation you interrupted," she said sweetly. And rudely. Almost like she was talking down to someone.

"My name is Shepard. I'm looking for Lady Benezia as part of my duties as a Spectre. Do you know her?" I asked.

"Do you know President Huerta of Earth?" She continued without waiting for a response. "I did not think so."

"Benezia passed through here. You didn't see her?"

"I saw her. You asked if I _knew _her. I do not."

Nit-picker, eh? All right. I can work with that.

"So your name is..."

The asari sighed, as she realized she wouldn't be able to get rid of me with her charming personality. "Dr. Allestia Iallis."

"Are you a member of the science team?"

"Recently transferred, yes," she replied shortly.

"What do you do here?"

"Molecular genetics. I specialize in biotic-enhanced allele-specific hybridization. "That means I am very good at tracking inherited variations in genetic sequences," she added, deliberately enunciating every syllable. Definitely talking down to me. "I am sure you would find it quite dull."

"Actually, I think it's pretty fascinating," I replied. "There are lots of different applications of biotics towards the sciences, several having to do with hybridization. Biotic manipulation of atomic orbitals to form hybrid orbitals with new bonding properties. Hybridization of nucleic acid strands to form various sequences, though why you'd want to do that when plain ol' polymerase chain reaction is so much simpler, cost-effective and reproducible is beyond me. But you said 'tracking inherited variations in genetic sequences.' Normally, that would mean interbreeding organisms from different taxa over several generations—you know, you never indicated what organisms you were studying. Flora? Fauna?—and studying inherited traits. Allele-specific traits, in your case, rather than epigenetic inheritance. Yes, yes, I know, that's implied by the term 'epigenetic'."

I definitely had Allestia's attention, if her open mouth was any indication. My squad had a similar reaction. I could have chalked it up as a victory and called it a day, but I wasn't done yet. I hadn't had this much fun in months.

"Anyways, you said you're focusing on 'biotic-enhanced allele-specific hybridization.' So that would imply mutations that directly or indirectly correlate to biotic manipulation of dark energy. I thought that was a rather controversial position, given that the mainstream opinion is that those mutations would be due to the mutagenic, and potentially carcinogenic, properties of element zero within an individual's nervous system, particularly _in utero_, rather than mass effect fields or 'biotics'. More importantly, no one's been able to prove that such mutations could be passed on to future generations. Mostly because the majority of those individuals die due to terminal cancers. But, hey, what do I know? I never bothered to pay much attention to that kind of stuff. Like you said, it's all rather dull to me. Anyway, I'll leave you to your meditation—which, by the way, looks more like being bored out of your skull. Nice talking to you. Bye!"

"I like how you put that bitch in her place," Wrex approved as we left for the medical bay.

"That was quite impressive, Shepard," Liara complimented me. "I did not know you had such a firm grasp on applied biotic sciences."

"I don't," I admitted, glancing behind me. Allestia still hadn't closed her mouth yet. "I did consider going to graduate school at one point, though." **(3)**

"But you chose to enlist, instead. Any particular reason?" Kaidan asked curiously.

I shrugged. "I could never get through a scientific journal article without falling asleep. Even the reviews knocked me out. So I wasn't exactly lying to her."

By this point, we had arrived at the medical bay. There were a few men lying down on beds. Two were unconscious; the other was moaning and writhing in pain.

A fourth man, presumably Dr. Cohen, was talking absentmindedly to the conscious patient, while administering some kind of drug to him. "Hang on," he soothed.

The sick patient merely groaned.

"I know you'd have a cure by now," he said sadly.

I cleared my throat to catch his attention, an act which caused him to jump. "What? W-what do you want?"

"Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"No," he hastened to reassure me. "You did nothing wrong. I'm just distracted. Um, I'm Dr. Cohen, by the way."

"Shepard," I replied, before tilting my head towards the patient he was just talking to. "What happened to these people?"

"They're suffering from a toxin. There was an accident. I..." he paused, belatedly realizing that he had said too much. "I, uh, I have a non-disclosure agreement. I shouldn't discuss it with anyone outside of the company."

"But you're going to, because I might be able to help," I prodded.

"I'd like to think that the company finds our lives more valuable than their secrets," he relented. "You know Mira? The VI for Peak 15? She handles the safety protocols for our experiments here."

"We reactivated her on our way through Central Station," I confirmed.

A look of dawning realization spread over Dr. Cohen's face. "That was you? I'm grateful. Until she came back online, the automatic equipment wouldn't work. We lost the connection in the middle of an experiment and the quarantine failed. These three were exposed to a toxin. Something we were working on."

Great. All this, because the people working here relied entirely on a VI to handle their safety protocols. Didn't they ever hear of backups? I mean, there was a time when the Citadel races _didn't _have VIs, right?

"What can you tell me about this toxin?" I asked instead. Dr. Cohen's mouth opened for a moment, as if he was about to respond, but ultimately shut.

"Look, I understand your caution, but I need details. What you say won't go beyond these walls."

"It's a bioweapon," he confessed. "Based on an exotic life-form discovered on the frontier. The company wanted something that could kill the creature. But there was no profit in something that kills only one species on the frontier of known space. So we kept working on it, adapting it to affect more species. Thoros-B is highly infectious, but can't pass from one person to another. Standard biowar attack, without the risk of a pandemic spread." **(4) **

"It doesn't matter how '_safe'_ you make it," Garrus said stiffly. "Biological weapons are _illegal_."

"Militaries, governments—they'll get this kind of weapon one way or another. We're trying to limit the damage. I know you can't see that," Dr. Cohen rebutted.

"We can discuss whether it's appropriate to conduct such research here, and whether the amount of oversight and accountability is adequate, another time," I jumped in. I had to get things moving before we got bogged down in one giant ethics debate. The Alliance doesn't pay me enough to deal with that crap. "What I want to know, Doctor, is whether there's a cure or treatment for this toxin?"

"Our top priority was getting the toxin working," Dr. Cohen replied. "We were close to synthesizing an antidote when Mira went down. Our notes and equipment are locked in the quarantine labs, but Captain Ventralis won't let us go down there. He doesn't want to risk any more contamination."

"Is he right to keep people out?"

"No!" Dr. Cohen burst out in frustration. "The toxin has a brief period of viability. After that, it breaks down into simple protein chains. That's why it has virtually no risk of causing a pandemic, and one of the major reasons why we were researching it in the first place. But he won't listen to me!"

"Perhaps we could persuade the captain to let us try," Tali suggested.

Nuts. Now that Tali brought it up, there was no way for me to get out of it. Not without damaging my reputation as a hero. Tali meant well, I know, but she just volunteered the lot of us for a world of hurt. "Why don't I talk to him?" I said, giving in to the inevitable.

Dr. Cohen let his shoulders sag in relief. "I can't ask you to do this officially. But if you can do anything, I'd appreciate it."

"What will it take to get the cure for these people?" I asked. If I had to do this, I might as well know what I was getting myself into.

"The quarantine labs are near the science team's quarters, one level down. Once you're in there, look for our notes. It should just be a matter of following our processes."

"Got it," I nodded, before moving on to my next question: "How're the rest of the science team holding up?"

Dr. Cohen glanced unconsciously over his shoulder, as if someone might overhear. "Better than Ventralis's guards. They've been on alert since the first attack."

"So we heard," Kaidan said. "He also said they've been staying awake through stims."

"I've been administering them at their request," Dr. Cohen acknowledged, "but every species needs to sleep. They're getting twitchy. Irrational."

Wrex snorted. "We noticed."

"Well, that cure won't make itself," I said. "Time to get to work."

"I hope you can do something," came Dr. Cohen's parting words, before he turned his attention back to his patients.

* * *

This time, the guards weren't pointing guns at us when we showed up at the command post. Their attention still gravitated towards us awfully fast, though, which did absolutely nothing to silence my little paranoid streak. "Something you need," Ventralis asked.

"Dr. Cohen told me about the problems in the quarantine lab. I'd like to recover the toxin cure," I told him.

"God, I wish we could help those guys," Ventralis sighed. "How're they doin'?"

"They're either moaning incoherently or unconscious," I replied. "They could use some help."

"Look, if there was something I could do, I'd do it. Really. But we can't risk contamination."

"Dr. Cohen seems to think we're past the point where the toxin would be contagious. He says we're safe now," I said.

Ventralis shook his head. "The eggheads have a real funny idea of what's 'safe'. Besides, I need every spare guard up here against those bugs. At least if something happens, it's something they can see."

There was only one more card to play. Unfortunately. "Look, we're not part of your defence plans. We're just taking up extra room, extra rations, extra medi-gel…"

"Yeah, but you're also packing extra guns," Ventralis pointed out, before his shoulders sagged. "All right, you're not under my command. You wanna gamble with your lives, fine. I'll have the guard let you in, but he'll seal the door behind you. And he'll run a full scan before he'll let you out. If there's any anomalies, you stay in there."

Swell. Expected, and totally reasonable—hell, I'd do the same if I were in his shoes—but still: swell. "Sounds like reasonable precautions, Ventralis," I agreed.

"I'll radio ahead and let the guard know you're coming. Good luck," he said, shaking my hand.

"Then I better go to work," I concluded.

Ventralis laughed bitterly. "You and me both."

Thanks to all the neon signs everywhere, it didn't take long to find the elevator that led down to the quarantine labs. The labs themselves had been sealed off, with an armed turian guard standing watch. There were still a couple scientists congregated in the foyer outside, though. There was also a separate door on the other side of the foyer, leading to a maintenance area of some sort. Sealed off, naturally.

One of the scientists, who happened to be standing off to the side, was a volus. Remembering Ventralis's words, I moved over to him. "Han Olar?" I began.

"You came here to find out about _them_, didn't you?" he replied.

"You mean those things out there?"

"Yes. I'm the only survivor from the hot labs, you know."

"So I heard. Look, I'm sorry I have to ask, but I need to know more about those things."

The next thing Han Olar said caught all of us by surprise: "Ah. Of course. What did you want to know about the rachni?"

"Rachni?" Liara managed. "I don't believe it."

"Is this someone's idea of a joke?" Wrex rumbled.

"Where did they come from?" I asked.

"They found it on a derelict ship. An egg. Waiting since the Rachni Wars. They brought it here—"

By this point, the other scientists had realized what we were talking about. "Shut up!" one of them urged. "You're gonna get us all killed."

"I don't have any control over who lives or dies here," Han Olar replied. "Do you?"

"If you're going to be crazy," snapped another scientist, "be the quiet kind."

"Crazy? I'm sane," Han Olar whispered bitterly. "God, am I sane."

"How did you make it out alive?" I asked, trying to resume the conversation.

"I killed her," he replied.

That statement caught Garrus's attention. "What?"

"Dr. Zhonmua. We were going to lunch when the alarms went off. I ran into the tram. And I closed the doors. She banged on the window once. Then they sliced her to pieces," he explained in a dull voice. "Her head came apart like a melon. I closed the door. I killed her."

"If you hadn't, you'd be dead too," I pointed out.

"Of course. That is perfectly true," Han Olar admitted. He hardly seemed convinced, however.

"Matriarch Benezia arrived recently and headed to the hot labs," Liara jumped in. "Could Matriarch Benezia have survived in there?"

Han Olar considered that for a moment. "It's possible," he finally said. "The specimens were sensitive to biotics."

I asked him a few more questions, but it was clear that he had nothing more to say, so I led the squad over to the quarantine labs.

The guard jerked his shotgun up as we approached. "You're not part of the crew," he barked belligerently when we came close.

Real observant sort. Hostile, too. Clearly he'd been on stims too long. I decided to calm him down before his trigger finger got the best of him. "You're right," I told him. "But I do have Ventralis's permission to go in there."

"Yeah. He radioed," he replied shortly, lowering his shotgun a little too slowly for my liking. "He also told me you have to prove you're _not _contaminated to get out." He reached behind him and punched a code into the keypad before stepping aside. "You got a death wish, you should stand watch on the barricades," he added sullenly.

I decided to ignore him and move in, given that the stress and stims had clearly eroded any people skills he might have had. The quarantine lab consisted of a small central room with three smaller rooms on the right hand side and some kind of medical equipment at the far end. I split the squad and we quickly searched the lab. Very strange that a quarantine lab would have weapons lockers. You'd think that having weapons lying around would be a bad idea. Especially if the civvies working here didn't know how to operate one. I decided to confiscate them all before anyone, like me, got hurt. I know: very noble of me.

Once that was done, I turned my attention to the medical thingamabob. Looked like someone had set up a program to manufacture the anti-toxin formula, complete with a list of reagents, and didn't log out. All I had to do was press "Start," get the process going, and manually input when to switch in the next reagent. Almost seemed too easy. But, after a minute's work, we had a half-litre of anti-toxin in a nice shatterproof container. Just for the hell of it, I downloaded all the notes and instructions to an OSD.

Then the door opened with a hiss. We turned around to see that rude asari doctor, Alestia, walk in. With a pack of geth behind her and a couple asari behind her. I knew it was too easy.

"Your mission ends here, Shepard," she announced.

"What the hell?" Ashley barked.

"Let me guess," I said. "You're a sleeper agent for Benezia."

"That's right," she smirked. "I was ordered to eliminate you, should the opportunity arise. And here you are, trapped in this lab. Weapons free!"

She meant that last bit as an order to her goons, but it also saved me the trouble of giving the same order. Kaidan let loose with a blast of biotics to knock them down while Garrus took out their shields with a tech mine. By the time Alestia got back to her feet, we'd taken out the rest of her would-be ambush squad. She had a moment to take that little fact in before I dropped her with my pistol.

On the way out, we saw the turian guard on the floor in a crumpled heap, a thin stream of bluish blood trickling out from a hole that was definitely not there when we last saw him. Guess that explained how Alestia got in.

Han Olar saw us come out, and waddled towards us. "They came out of there," he said, pointing to one of the doors.

"You mean the ge—the inorganics the asari had with her?" I quickly corrected myself. He still seemed one small step away from flat-out insanity, and I really didn't want to send him over the edge with a poorly chosen word. Way too much of a headache to deal with.

"Benezia brought them with her," he confirmed.

And no one thought that was odd. Typical. **(5)** "Look, is there any way to get to the hot labs?"

"There's the elevators," Han Olar suggested. "And the access tunnels on the main floor, opposite the entrance to the medical bay. Of course, there are alarms in place that will warn the guards of your attempt. They call it their 'Watchdog Protocol.' Anyone who sets the protocol off will get a very unpleasant reception."

"Right," I said slowly, looking around for inspiration... and finding it. "How 'bout the maintenance area?"

"I suppose that would work," Han Olar said. "But only the guards and the team leads would have access."

As it turned out, I knew just where I could find a team lead. One who was waiting for the cure I was carrying in my hot little hands.

"Is that the cure?" Dr. Cohen cried out when I arrived, jumping to his feet. "You did it!"

"Yeah, I think so. It was hard to concentrate while dodging all the gunfire," I said casually.

A look of shock and disbelief spread over his face. "You were attacked?" Then it occurred to him that I might be wanting payback at anyone who could have given me a heads-up, but didn't. "I—I don't know anything about that. I hate violence. I don't even fire people. I have my receptionist do that."

Any thoughts about how that suggested more than a pacifistic streak were blown out of the water by his next words: "Look. The guards? They've been more alert since you got here. I think they were expecting you."

Swell. No wonder my paranoid streak was going off. "Thanks for the heads-up. At least it didn't look like there were too many of them."

"Actually, there are more of them in the back, where the hot labs are. But they won't let anyone go near them. Even I can't get through. Just people with 'clearance.' Whatever that means."

"How about the maintenance area?" I asked. "Do you have access to that?"

Dr. Cohen looked surprised. "The maintenance area? Yes, take my pass. But there's just snow back there." He handed over my pass while I gave him the cure and notes I took from the quarantine labs. "Let's take a look at this," he muttered, activating the OSD. "An extension of Phelp's work? I thought he was onto something." Satisfied, he looked up at me. "I can't thank you enough. You saved their lives... God! What a cliché!" he broke off in disgust.

For some reason, I found that funny as hell. Here he was, trying to survive a siege while struggling to save patients who got sick from his project, and he chose a lack of imagination to get annoyed over. "That's what I'm here for. Forget about it," I reassured him.

"I'd better administer this right away. Thank you again," he said, before turning back to his patients.

That keycard proved to be a lifesaver. We managed to casually walk through the main level, take the elevator to the quarantine labs and sneak out through the maintenance area into a small snowy tunnel. All without anyone being the wiser. Granted, we did have to deal with a rachni. One of the brown ones. But still, one bug versus a small army of guards? Yeah, I'll take the lone bug any day.

The tunnel led to another complex. We quickly passed through a couple rooms, looting whatever crates we could find there. Eventually we took a left into a larger, square room, with paths running along the walls. In front of us, a stairway led up to a second split-level, which connected to a central platform of some sort. Where an asari in a tight black head-to-toe dress walked towards us.

"Mother."

That came from Liara. In other words...

Aw, crap.

In other words, that asari was Matriarch Benezia.

It suddenly occurred to me that this was going to be one _awkward _family reunion.

* * *

_(1): Commonly mislabelled as a medicinal salve that combines local anaesthetics, clotting agents and sealing compounds proof against liquids, gases and contaminants, medi-gel is actually a genetically-engineered bioplasm created by the Sirta Foundation. Technically, such modification violates Council laws, which forbid genetic engineering extensive enough to add new properties to an organism, rather than enhancing properties that are already present. In practise, however, the sheer usefulness of medi-gel has caused even the most vigilant of lawmakers to turn a blind eye to its existence. _

_(2): That, and the fact that if they were not good at their jobs, they would have been dead by the time Shepard arrived._

_(3): In fact, Shepard talked to Dr. Magda Tenenbaum, one of the most respected scientists of the twenty-second century. While she specialized in the use of mass effect fields in the development of new alloys, she was extremely knowledgeable on its applications in numerous other fields, including genetics. She was particularly noteworthy for her criticism for the use of biotic-induced mass effect fields in scientific studies, writing several well-researched editorials and reviews regarding its high degree of inaccuracy and imprecision, coupled with the often-criminal treatment of the "volunteers" used in those studies. In later years, she shifted her work to humanitarianism, becoming a strong proponent for "biotic rights."_

_(4): Based on the name of this toxin, it's entirely possible that Saren, using his position at Binary Helix, encouraged the development of this "Thoros-B" for deployment against the Thorian found on Feros. If so, the lack of progress may have prompted him to resort to the more conventional methods that Shepard encountered during his mission there. _

_(5): Actually, this isn't as farfetched as it sounds. Few people had actually seen a geth before, and, at the time, it wasn't uncommon for the Alliance in general, and corporations in particular, to supplement security details, colony garrisons or private facilities with automated robots The Peak 15 staff probably mistook the geth for a new series of security robots, colloquially known as "mechs."_


	22. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Most enemies I've run into act surprised to see me. Sometime, they're even alarmed. They might say something like "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" or "Alert the guards/boss/master!" Recently, they've started imitating vid-flicks with idiotic lines like "Enemies everywhere!" or try to act defiant with the ol' "I will destroy you."

Not Benezia, though. No: she just turned away, ignoring us. And then she had to break out into a monologue.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair. Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."

Following her gaze, I realized that she wasn't ignoring us. Not entirely, anyways. She was staring at a large tank, holding one _enormous _rachni. If the rachni were like any human bugs, then that was probably the queen. This meant that Saren was definitely trying to breed his own personal army of bugs. Like the geth weren't enough, I thought sourly.

She finally turned towards us, a haughty look on her face. "I won't be moved by sympathy," she said coldly. "No matter who you bring into this confrontation."

Uh, that wasn't my intent. Granted, I like screwing around with the enemy as much as the next guy, but that level of manipulation is beyond my pay grade. Besides, it doesn't look good for my rep.

"Liara's here because she wants to be," I corrected her. "Not because I asked her to."

Benezia seemed almost amused by this. "Indeed? What have you told him about me, Liara?"

"What could I say, Mother?" Liara burst out. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?"

Ignoring her daughter's response, Benezia changed the topic. "Have you faced an asari commando unit before, Commander? Few humans have."

Clearly she was bored. Bored of listening to her own voice. Bored of us. Bored of her daughter—which must have really sucked for Liara. While I'd love to stall some more, or better yet, get away from the contender for Worst Mother Ever, it was clear that we couldn't put thing off any longer. "There's obviously no peaceful way to settle this," I concluded.

"Indeed," Benezia replied, a flare of biotics coalescing around her as she pointed at us. I braced myself, expecting to be pinned to the ground again. Instead, I heard a door open somewhere on the other side of the room, followed by a patter of footsteps.

I activated the squad's comm frequency, not wanting Benezia to overhear my orders. "Team One, back up towards the door. Team Two; take cover behind the crates on the right of the stairs. Don't get within any line of sight that might open yourself up to a biotic attack. Weapons free."

The two teams split up, just in time to avoid a biotic wave from Benezia. Guess she decided to do something more constructive than point dramatically. A second later, we saw a small trio of asari charge into sight.

For commandoes who had decades of combat experience, they sure picked a funny way to attack: charge forward one at a time, let off a couple shots, then retreat. The constant retreating I could understand: keep moving so your enemy has trouble pinning you down, and increase the chances of them doing something stupid. Still, putting yourself in a position where seven opponents could riddle you with holes didn't strike me as a smart plan. Not that I was complaining, mind you.

Wrex seemed to agree. "Something doesn't smell right," he yelled between bursts of fire.

"Whaddya mean?" I hollered back.

"I've fought with asari commandoes before. Hell, I've fought _against_ asari commandoes before. None of them were ever this stupid. Arrogant, sometimes. Stupid, no."

Nice to know someone else shared my suspicions.

By the time Wrex finished his explanation, we'd killed the last asari. According to the HUD, the only other contact nearby was Benezia. I was just about to order the squad to attack when some door hissed open. A second later, our HUD blanked into a blob of static, with a nice helpful "JAMMED" error message flashing. Probably geth, if experience and my appalling luck were any indication. Sure enough, an asari commando and a geth sniper appeared to our right. We ducked out of the way, just in time to avoid a wave of biotics and a merrily dancing laser sight. Seven on two, and we only had one fire-lane to worry about. Not that bad, all things considered.

Then my paranoid streak went off. I glanced around, and saw another pair of asari appear, from the same direction as their now-deceased comrades. Great. Numbers were still on our side, but now we were getting flanked. I quickly directed Team Two to deal with those two while Team One tried to take out the geth/asari tag-team. Unfortunately, these guys did a better job of ducking in and out of cover. After a couple minutes, all we got for our efforts were a drain on our shields.

"This isn't working so well," Ashley cried out in frustration.

Agreed. Time to switch things up a bit. "Time for Plan B," I agreed.

"We have a Plan B, Commander?" Kaidan yelled, ducking just in time to duck a ball of warping energy from Benezia. As if we needed a reminder that she was still around.

"Nope," I yelled back. "But now's a good time for one."

No sooner did I finish that reply, did a burst of inspiration strike me. Or desperation. For me, they're pretty much the same.

"Team One, we're going on the offensive. Team Two, follow us, but cover our six." Without waiting for them to reply, I jumped out of cover and charged the geth/asari tag-team.

I know: pretty crazy, right? Like I said, I was desperate. There was a method behind my madness, though. If the geth was anything like me, then once we got within spitting distance, its sniper rifle would become one very expensive club. As for the asari, maybe she'd be so surprised by our idiocy, she wouldn't think to wave her arms and do some biotic voodoo. **(1)** In addition, it would force the other group of asari to follow us, hopefully exposing themselves to an attack.

Or we'd just wind up charging towards certain doom while more enemies shoot up our backsides.

I love Plan B.

The asari poked her head out, did a double-take, and lifted her assault rifle. Then she lowered it and raised a hand, presumably deciding to use her biotics instead. Then she changed her mind again and gripped her assault rifle. By that point, though, it was too late: I rammed into her at full speed, knocked her own her blue butt, and shot her.

"Headshot through the left eye. Impressive," Garrus said absently, scanning the stairway in front of us for more enemies." I didn't have the heart to tell him I was aiming for the centre of her torso. Instead, I turned around to see how everyone else was doing. Team Two had taken down one of the asari, and had effectively pinned down her partner. Wrex had dealt with the geth sniper in his own usual fashion. And yet, our HUDs were still jammed.

Which meant there were more geth out there. Or asari with ECMs. Either way, it meant we'd have to do some searching. Naturally.

"Kaidan, hold this position. We're going to the other side of the room to seek and destroy any more of Benezia's friends."

I led Wrex and Garrus up the stairs and onto the catwalk, hearing Kaidan's acknowledgement through the helmet speakers. Somehow, we managed to dash across the catwalk without getting hit by Benezia, despite the fact that we were well within her line of sight. We got to the edge of the next set of stairs, looked down...

...and met the eyes of three asari commandoes, looking up.

I'll admit I froze for a second. Can't go forward, because the asari will get us. Can't stay put, because Benezia would get us and the asari would finish off the job. Ditto for retreating so...

Aw, screw it, I decided, leading the charge down the stairs. At least that option would restrict the number of asari trying to kill us.

I tried the ramming speed trick again. This time, the asari dodged. I wound up running right into the wall, and then got knocked to the ground as everything suddenly got a whole lot heavier. Through a blurred, ever-shifting haze, I saw Wrex and Garrus frantically try to keep the three asari at bay. I could hear them firing their weapons, the asari firing back... and then more gunfire from somewhere else.

Great, I thought sourly. More asari or geth coming to play.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw one asari go down. Then two. Then three... at which point the biotic field pinning me to the ground seemed to lose all strength.

With a grunt, I got back to my feet, just in time to see Team Two was coming down the stairs to join us. "Decided to join the fun?" I asked casually.

"Something like that," Tali piped up.

"Well, we're glad you wrapped up the sightseeing as fast as you did," Garrus said dryly.

Kaidan opened his mouth to say something, when a quartet of geth trotted in through a door on the other side of the room. We chastised them for interrupting our relaxing conversation. Thoroughly.

There didn't seem to be any more rude interruptions after that. Maybe everyone else was on a coffee break. Whatever the reason, it was just us and Benezia. Cautiously, I led the squad up the stairs, cognizant of the fact that her centuries of experience might just balance the odds.

For once, we didn't face any biotics. We got onto the catwalk and pointed our weapons at Benezia. Behind her, we could see the tank holding the rachni queen. Curiously, both had a certain poise about them. A regal air of sorts.

"This is not over," she said, head thrust back defiantly. "My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

My mouth said "Start talking. It's over. What's Saren's next move." My mind said 'Either that outfit is cutting off the oxygen to her brain or I'm seeing the real reason why Liara decided to get away.'

"I will not betray him," she replied, albeit with a little less fervour. "You will..." an uncertain look came over her, as if she was struggling with herself. "You..."

"You must listen," she continued, her eyes now filled with a little less loopiness and a lot more panic. "Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions. Briefly. But the indoctrination is strong."

Indoctrination. Everything clicked together. Why the first bunch of asari had attacked in such a tactically senseless fashion. Why Benezia was in cahoots with Saren. Why she was moonlighting as Saren's personal missionary. "We met Shiala on Feros," I said. "She told us about Sovereign's indoctrination."

"It is a terror to be trapped in your own mind," Benezia said bitterly. "To beat upon the glass as your hands torture and murder. I was powerless. A tool for Saren. He sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

"Wait a sec," I held up a hand. "This 'Mu Relay' is a mass relay, right? There are _dreadnoughts_ that are smaller than those things. How the heck do you _lose _one?"

"Four thousand years ago, a nearby star went supernova. The shockwave propelled the relay out of its system, but did not damage it. Its precise vector and speed were impossible to determine. As the centuries passed, the nebula created by the supernova enveloped the relay. It is difficult to find any cold object in space. Particularly something swathed in hot dust and radiation."

Okay, that makes sense. It's how the Normandy's stealth systems work, after all. "But someone on Noveria found it?"

"Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of the galaxy. They discovered the relay. Rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I... I took the location of the relay from the queen's mind." Benezia bowed her head in shame. "I was not gentle."

I squelched the impulse to play the empathetic, nurturing hero. My curiosity was firing on all cylinders. And there was that mission, too. "How did the rachni find it?"

"They searched, patiently. They are territorial creatures, driven to close any possible way into their systems."

In other words, they were a heck of a lot more determined, or anal, than any of the other species. "So building an army for Saren was just a bonus. The real reason for all this was to find the Mu Relay. Why does he need it?"

"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit," Benezia replied. "I would tell you more if I could, but Saren did not share his counsel with me. I was merely a servant to his cause."

Again I flashed back to Feros, and how I'd theorized that Saren didn't mind filling his thralls in on his plans once they were under his thumb. Guess I was wrong there. Still, maybe I could salvage something from all this. "You can still make it right. Help me out."

"I was not myself," Benezia whispered, as if she didn't hear me, "but... I should have been stronger." Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out an OSD. "I transcribed the coordinates of the Mu Relay to this OSD. Take it."

"Mother, knowing the location of the relay is not enough," Liara said softly as I took the OSD. "Do you know where he planned to go from there?"

"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination," Benezia shook her head, looking worried. "But you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived."

Great. No pressure.

"You have to stop..." Benezia stopped for a moment. She definitely looked worried now. "You have to... stop me, I can't..." She started speaking faster, an expression of increasing panic sweeping over her face. "His teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine. You should... uh, you should..."

"Mother!" Liara cried out. "I—don't leave! Fight him!"

"You've always made me proud, Liara," Benezia said sadly. For the first time, her eyes conveyed the warmth and love that Liara must have seen during the decades of her childhood.

Then, in the blink of an eye, that love went away, replaced by a glare of cold disdain and fanatical zeal. "Prepare to die," she snarled.

"You first," I replied. My pistol was already up and firing, followed quickly by the rest of my squad. Even Liara participated, judging by the tendril of smoke that I saw drifting from her pistol. For her sake, I'd like to think that she didn't fire the killing shot. **(2)**

"I cannot go on," Benezia said in resignation, slumping to the floor. "You will have to stop him, Shepard."

"Hold on. We've got medi-gel. Maybe we can—"

"No," Benezia said firmly, interrupting my curiosity-masked-as-heroism in an instant. Hadn't seen that level of command and authority since Basic. No wonder she was a Matriarch.

"But..." I started.

"He is still in my mind. I am not entirely myself. I never will be again."

"Mother..." Liara whispered helplessly.

"Good night, Little Wing," Benezia said kindly. "I will see you again with the dawn."

You might expect someone in Benezia's position to die with a look of peace on her face. I did. Instead, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No light?" she murmured in confusion. "They always said there would be... ah..."

And with that, her head slumped, and Matriarch Benezia died.

* * *

I was planning to lead Team One on a quick search around the room for loot, while Team Two stayed put to watch our backs. Of course, we would have been killing time so Liara could have a couple minutes to mourn. But the prospect of new loot was important, too.

First, though, I couldn't help indulging my curiosity by taking a close look at the rachni queen. It was rather refreshing to take a look at one without the fear of it breaking loose and trying to dissolve you. I just wished the glass was a bit cleaner. It didn't seem so bad from a distance, but now that I was up close, I found it pretty hard to see through it. I put my hand on the glass, leaned in and squinted. The more I stared, though, the more my paranoid streak acted up. It was like something was about to happen—

Without warning, the queen slapped one of its tentacles (antennae, whatever) up against the glass. I jumped back instinctively and bumped into someone. I turned around to apologize…

…and jumped back again, pulling my pistol at a (supposedly) dead asari commando, who was staggering towards the glass tank like a zombie from some twentieth-century vid. The asari ignored me and continued to shuffle forward until it touched the tank, at which point it turned around. With her back more or less lined up with the tentacle, the asari opened its eyes, focused on me and started to speak.

"This one… serves as our… voice," she said slowly, in a deep voice. "We cannot sing. Not in… these low spaces. Your musics are… colourless."

I'll admit I was a little confused. Talking zombies? Talking _asari _zombies? What was the universe coming to? "Musics? What?"

"Your way of communicating is strange," the asari elaborated. "Flat. It does not colour the air. When we speak, one moves all."

"This is going to be a fun conversation," Wrex muttered.

"We are the… mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced.

"We are rachni."

"How are you speaking through her?" I asked curiously. By this point, I'd more or less recovered from the shock of this surreal situation. Par for the course, and all that.

"Our kind sing through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colours we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful."

"Ah." Not quite as eloquent as I'd like, but I couldn't see these 'colours'.

"The children we birthed were stolen from us," the asari (the rachni queen, I corrected myself) continued. "Before they could learn to sing. They are lost to silence. End their suffering. They cannot be saved. They will only cause harm as they are."

"Yeah, about that," I said. "Why _are _your children killing people?"

"These… 'needle-men'. They stole our eggs from us. They sought to turn our children into beasts of war. Claws with no songs of their own. Our elders are comfortable with silence. Children know only fear if no one sings to them. Fear has shattered their minds."

"Makes sense," Kaidan said softly. "Leave a baby alone in a closet until she's grown up, and she won't be sane."

"If you're sure they can't be saved," I agreed, phrasing my response to convey my supposed reluctance to kill when I didn't have to. **(3)**

"It is lamentable. But necessary. Do as you must," the rachni queen replied. "Before you deal with our children, we stand before. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"

Unexpectedly, Wrex strode up. "There are acid tanks rigged up in that thing," he burst out, pointing at the nozzles. "Set them off. Millions of my ancestors died to put those things down. _Don't _let them come back."

"I joined the Alliance to protect my sisters from things like this," Ashley chimed in, "not release more of them."

"If you kill her, you consign an entire race to death," Kaidan said cautiously. "We should let the Council decide her fate."

Liara had apparently mourned enough to contribute to this ethical dilemma, and took a stronger stance to boot: "The Council made a mistake. They let the krogan go too far. This is a chance for us to atone. She has done nothing to us."

"Your companions hear the truth," the rachni queen pointed out, before Garrus or Tali could throw in their two creds. "You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory."

Why did I always get dragged into these kinds of situations, I marvelled. This wasn't covered in OCS, damnit! "If I let you live, would you attack other races again?" I asked, stalling for time.

The response was immediate and emphatic. "No! We—I do not know what happened in the war. As an egg, we only heard discordance, songs the colour of oily shadows. A note from space hushed one voice after another. It forced the singers to resonate with its own sour yellow note. Then we awoke in this place. The last echo of those who came out from the Singing Planet. We would seek a hidden place to teach our children harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return."

Well, that didn't help. If she said anything that might suggest a more sinister or imperialistic motive, then I could just trigger the acid tanks and be done with it. But that didn't happen, leading me back to this goddamned ethical dilemma. I suppose I could have just left her in the tank, as this was clearly above my pay grade. But somehow, that didn't seem right either.

"I won't destroy your entire race. You'll go free," I finally decided.

"Are you stupid?" Wrex snarled. "Your people didn't fight these bastards, so maybe you don't get it."

"And maybe you've been blinded by old war stories," I replied. "My decision stands."

"Do what you want," Wrex muttered bitterly. "My people will clean up this mess later. Just like we did for the salarians."

The rachni queen had clearly been following our conversation, as she chose this point to jump in. "You… will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children."

"Great," Wrex snorted sarcastically. "Bugs are writing songs about you. Mark my words: you'll regret this."

Ignoring Wrex, I walked over to the control console and, after looking over the menu, hit the appropriate buttons. With a whine of motors, the tank rose up to the top of the room and a panel retracted. As the asari spokesperson slumped to the ground, the rachni queen turned its head and looked at me. It chattered something incomprehensible at me, then turned away and crawled off to its future (or wherever that passageway led).

After the rachni queen departed, we took a few minutes to scrounge for supplies, before making our way to the hot labs. It took a couple minutes, mostly because we had to do a lot of elevator hopping, but we eventually got there. A chubby man was sitting on a bench, something that seemed unusual, given the danger around us, until we got closer and saw the wound in his leg.

"Are you here to secure the situation," he asked in a heavy accent. Russian, I guessed.

"That's us. What's your name? How're you holding up?" I responded.

"My name is Yaroslev Tartakovsky," he introduced himself hurriedly. "You must listen to me. If we do not contain our mistake, they will drop bombs from the battle stations. You understand?"

"How did they get loose in the first place?" I asked instead. No one had actually explained that part to me.

"Eh, I am only following the orders," Tartakovsky dodged, clearly hoping I'd let things slide.

As I wasn't feeling quite so generous, I grilled him for more information instead. He pretty much confirmed what we already learned: Found rachni egg on some derelict ship? Check. Decided to clone a rachni army when they discovered the egg was a queen? Check. Learned that snatching the eggs away from Mommy before they hatched was a bad idea? Check.

He concluded with the observation that the neutron purge fail-safe system would have to be activated. Just as I was asking him about that, I heard a rattling noise. It sounded like it was coming from the vents.

I suppose I should be thankful that Tartakovsky was the closest to the vents. He was in the midst of explaining that the controls for the fail-safe system were in the next room when a rachni's claw-tipped tentacle punched through his chest. He looked down dumbly at the claw poking out of his body before the rachni flung him aside. By that point, our weapons were out and we were hosing the bug with live fire. It managed to take a couple steps in our direction before dropping to the ground.

As soon as I was sure that the rachni wouldn't be getting back up, I went over to Tartakovsky and started searching his pockets.

"Shepard?" Tali asked cautiously. "What are you doing?"

"Following a hunch," I replied absently, turning each pocket inside out.

"Uh, skipper, I don't think you're going to find any weapons in his pockets," Ashley said disapprovingly. She didn't seem to like the idea of searching a civvie for loot while the corpse was still cooling.

"True," I said, finally finding what I was looking for and lifting it triumphantly, "but I might find the access codes for the neutron purge."

"Good," Wrex said tersely, as we headed for the control room. There was a VI interface near the far end of the room, so it wasn't too surprising to see Mira pop up.

"Connecting. I have full access to the facility, and am at your disposal."

"Activate the neutron purge," I ordered.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that without proper code authorization."

"Code input 875-020-079 Code Omega, local execution."

"Verified," Mira responded after a brief pause. "Code Omega execution in 120 seconds."

Naturally, we heard some painfully familiar shrieking as the countdown timer started. Glancing at my HUD, I could see we had company outside. Lots of company. Judging by their position, we'd have to fight through a gauntlet of rachni to get to the elevator and get out of here. In less than two minutes.

"This should be fun," Wrex observed.

I silently agreed, though my sentiments were somewhat less than sincere.

Somehow, we managed to take out all the rachni, soldiers and kamikaze workers alike, and made it to the elevator with thirty seconds to spare. Then we boarded on the tramway, went back to Central Station, drove through the Aleutsk Valley to Port Hanshan and returned to the Normandy.

Another successful mission. Go team.

* * *

"What's our next move, Commander," Ashley asked once the debriefing started. "Head to the Mu Relay?"

I shook my head. "The Mu Relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren's going, we'd just be wasting our time."

"The commander is right," Liara interjected, speaking for the first time since we left Peak 15. "We cannot rush off blind. We still need more information."

"Who put you in charge? Did the commander resign when I wasn't looking?" Ashley asked sarcastically.

"We're all on the same team here, Williams," I rebuked her. "She's just trying to help."

To her credit, Ashley looked chastened. "Sorry, Commander," she apologized. "Er… you too, Liara."

"This is a tough mission," I moved on smoothly. "We're all on edge. Everyone go get some rest. Crew: dismissed."

"Noveria report is away, Commander," Joker's voice came over the comm as the squad got up. "You want me to patch you through to the Council?"

I shrugged. "Patch 'em through, Joker." Time for TPTB to indulge in their favourite pastime of nit-picking.

"Is this report accurate, Commander," the asari councillor began without any preamble. "You find rachni on Noveria?"

"And then released the queen," the turian councillor asked, his voice equally furious and panicked. "Do you have any idea what you've done? How many generations until they overrun the galaxy?"

For a moment, I entertained the notion of responding to his question. Might take them three generations before things go south. Maybe four. But that sort of flip response wouldn't do my rep any favours, so I gave a more serious answer: "This queen is different. She bears no ill will against us. In fact, she seems to understand why her kind had to be wiped out the last time around."

"I hope you're right, Shepard," the turian councillor replied grimly. "Our children's children will pay the price if you're not."

"We'll be waiting for your next report, Shepard," the asari councillor concluded.

* * *

The universe must have been on some kind of "theme" kick, because the next several missions had one thing in common: that secret group code-named Cerberus.

For example, there was an Alliance colony on Chasca, in the Maroon Sea cluster. Emphasis on the past tense there. The entire colony got turned into husks. All thirty or forty of them. The only reason we weren't hip-deep in glowing, circuitry-laden zombies with a penchant for emitting EMP blasts was that this was a colony, not some well-established metropolis. There were also several of those "dragon's teeth" structure, which reminded us of the delightful impaling and transformation process that we saw on Eden Prime. And who was responsible for all this? Cerberus.

Over in the Styx Theta cluster, Alliance bases in both of its systems were under siege by rachni. Little kamikaze rachni. Big, brown acid-spitting rachni. And a new strain: larger than the brown bugs, riddled with glowing blue marks, capable of dealing a lot more damage, and biotic to boot. On one planet, we had to go down into a set of tunnels to exterminate their nests. Definitely one of the worst missions I'd faced so far: no room to escape when the going gets tough.

Anyways, we eventually came across some data pointing us to a hidden station in the Gorgon system (over in the Argos Rho cluster). One filled with rachni, though we managed to deal with them. Eventually, we came across a computer that had some marvellously insightful log entries. It seems that Cerberus had also obtained some rachni. Unlike the ones in Saren's project, these guys were grown "in proximity to the master control unit." The Cerberus goons apparently figured that they'd be more controllable and hoped to deploy them as weapons, starting with a nearby pirate base. Eventually, they discovered that these "animals" should've been treated like POWs; as the rachni were escaping at will, accessing freighters, and directing them to random destinations. Oops. We wound up setting the station's power core to overload, and then had to fight our way back to the Normandy before it blew up. Brought back unpleasant memories of Noveria, believe me.

Oh yeah: remember the marines on Edolus who got lured to their death because Cerberus thought it would be fun to stick a distress beacon near a thresher maw nest? And how Admiral Kahoku tracked that to Cerberus? Well, I finally decided to track down those research facilities that he discovered before he had to run for his life. There were three of them, scattered within driving distance on the planet Binthu. All of them were protected—defence turrets, soldiers and the odd biotic. All of them were holding "test subjects"—either rachni or Thorian creepers. One of them had Kahoku's body.

Guess Cerberus caught up with Admiral Kahoku. They didn't even let him go down fighting either, based on the needle marks on his arm. Maybe I should've followed up on that lead sooner. The words "Aw, crap" just don't seem to cut it.

As a side note, it seems that the Shadow Broker gave Kahoku the locations of those Cerberus facilities, on the condition that he'd pass along any information he could find on them. An agent of the Shadow Broker contacted me just as we were leaving Binthu, offering to buy any data I might have stumbled across. As it turned out, I did download some Cerberus files from the building where Kahoku's body was dumped. I politely declined, even though I rarely say no to extra credits. That particular conversation wasn't exactly on a secure channel, so anyone could've found out about my side deal and ratted me out. I then forwarded that data, along with my AAR, to Alliance Command. They later released a public statement that claimed he died of "natural causes." Bullshit, I know. Hopefully, the data I retrieved would make his death worth something. And his body was retrieved for burial, something I suspect would have been a source of great relief to his wife (now a widow) and three kids.

I think the most poignant Cerberus-related mission came from yet another conversation with Admiral Hackett. He told me that several scientists had been mysteriously and violently killed. Investigation turned up one disturbing commonality: all of them were connected to a covert project on Akuze.

Before I go on, though, I should probably explain that.

During the early days of human expansion, the Alliance was sending pioneer teams to set up colonies willy-nilly. In 2177, they lost contact with their team on a little dirt ball named Akuze. So they sent fifty marines to see what was going on. Within twenty-four hours, the entire company was wiped out by thresher maws.

So you can imagine my concern about the connection between this covert project and the massacre on Akuze. I dropped everything I was doing—which was basically trotting around the Normandy and saying hi to everybody—and started searching for the last surviving scientist, Dr. Wayne, before he met the same fate as his former colleagues.

By the time we caught up with Dr. Wayne in the Newton system, he had already been captured by a score of mercs. Thankfully, they weren't expecting any company, probably lulled into a false sense of security after the last four hits. We kinda blew through them like a hurricane.

We found him cowering in a small room. An understandable position, given that another guy was holding a gun on him.

"Stay back!" the man warned us. "I've got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!"

"Please! He's a madman," Dr. Wayne pleaded. "Mr. Toombs, you're insane! You need help!"

"It's _Corporal_," Toombs screamed, almost in tears. "_Corporal _Toombs! You don't get to lie! Not today! Today it all comes out!"

"Today what comes out?" I asked him. "I'm listening, but I need you to put that gun down."

"You don't understand," Toombs said miserably. "I don't _want _to kill anyone. I—I want to go to sleep without screaming in my dreams! I want the people who sent me to Akuze brought to justice."

"Can't you see that Toombs is crazy?" Wayne asked us incredulously. "Shoot him!"

All that did was redirect Toombs's attention back to his original target. "But if I can't get that, I'll have to settle for killing the men who took my life away."

I couldn't help myself. I just had to know: "What did the doctor do to you, Corporal?"

"We were on Akuze back in '77 when the thresher maws hit. My entire unit was wiped out. The thresher maws..." his voice cracked as the memories resurfaced. "The scientists were studying them. They let them hit our unit just to watch! A day later, I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I'd survived. Now they had someone to run tests on."

"What kind of tests are we talking about?"

"You can't believe Toombs!" Wayne interrupted desperately. "He doesn't have any proof! I demand a fair trial!"

"Ever had thresher maw acid in your veins?" Toombs asked me, in a voice that was way, way too calm. "I have. They wanted to see what it would do. They're part of some organization, Cerberus, that runs secret tests like this. They treated me like a lab animal.

"This is justice," he said grimly, raising his pistol again. "This man deserves to die. So, are you going to kill me or not?"

"You're better than this, Toombs," I told him. "You're not like them."

"Don't tell me who I am!" Toombs snapped. "What have you faced, Shepard? Oh yeah, I know all about you," he added, seeing my surprise. "Fought on Elysium and got away with a few scratches and some big reputation. The rest of my unit died, and I was tortured for _years_, Shepard!" By this point, he was screaming again. "You can't judge me! You don't have the right!"

"Toombs, if I could've helped you on Akuze, I would have," I said softly. "All I can do is help now. Let me. Whaddya say?"

For a moment there, I thought he would've pulled the trigger anyways. We waited for one minute. Two. Three.

Then he sighed and lowered his pistol. Much to my relief: my arm was starting to get sore from holding my pistol up. "Okay. Fine. As long as he goes to trial." He sank to the floor, clutching his head. "Maybe the screaming will stop now. I dunno."

"Those bastards can't hurt you anymore," I promised him, motioning for Kaidan to take Dr. Wayne into custody. "Joker, tell the Fifth Fleet we need a ship for pick-up."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

* * *

Hackett later thanked me for looking into this matter, promised that they'd get some answers and observed that Toombs seemed to find some closure. Nice to see that something went right. Still, things were getting really heavy, and I could use a break. So I went back to the Citadel. Time to sell some excess loot and indulge in some retail therapy.

Of course, a trip to the Citadel wouldn't be a trip to the Citadel without a long, long, painfully long ride in the elevator.

"So tell me, Tali," Wrex rumbled after a couple minutes. "Who'd win in a fight between you and Shepard?"

"Do krogan size up everyone for a fight?" Tali asked curiously. "Even friends and allies?"

Wrex looked surprised. "Yes."

We never got to find out the answer, as we finally arrived at C-Sec. From there, we took a quick shuttle to the Wards, where I did some browsing, pretended to ignore that creepy civvie fan (what was his name again? Colin? Christian?), bought some damn good coffee and sold off all my spare loot to Dr. Michel.

You should've seen the smile on her face as I gave her mod after weapon after mod. Probably as wide as mine, given the amount of loot I was raking in. I finally had enough creds to buy everyone a full set of Spectre Master Gear. Best assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and, of course, sniper rifles. Cost me almost 150 million creds, but it was worth it. **(4)** I swear, the requisitions officer at C-Sec kept staring at me the entire time, his mandibles wide open. Funniest thing I ever saw.

We came back fully stocked; our smiles wide enough to split our faces wide open. At my suggestion, we made a bee-line for the garage. Partly to spend some more time together. Partly to customize our new toys to our liking.

"Tell me Wrex," I said, before pausing to take a sip of the coffee I'd just bought. Damn good stuff. Better than the swill you normally get on Alliance ships. "You ever go on any missions like ours before?"

"Saving the galaxy from certain destruction?" Wrex rumbled, cracking open his new shotgun and taking a look at the barrel. "No. But I've had my share of adventures."

"Do you remember any that stick out?" I asked.

"A few," he admitted. "I remember one time I was hired by a volus diplomat. What an ass."

"I guess even politicians have need of mercs from time to time, huh?" Kaidan said, slotting a Frictionless Materials mod into his new pistol.

Wrex snorted. "Time to time? If it wasn't for politicians, I'd be out of work. They're always looking for ways to get ahead. This one was no different. He wanted me to erase his past. Get rid of an old friend who knew too much." Then he chuckled. "This 'old friend' turned out to be an asari commando."

Garrus winced, rubbing his shoulder. "I can see why that might give you pause."

"What?" Wrex looked up in surprise, realizing he'd apparently skipped something. "No, no. Aleena and I were old friends. Sort of. We met when we were both contracted to kill the same turian."

"What happened?" I asked, taking another sip of coffee. I couldn't believe how good this stuff was. And it was so cheap, too.

"Neither of us wanted the other one to get him first. We spent more time fighting each other than tracking that turian," Wrex laughed.

"An asari commando mercenary. That's unusual, isn't it?" Tali asked.

"I wouldn't say it's unusual. Mercs come in all shapes," came the reply.

"Which one of you made it first," Liara asked absently, staring intensely at a Mark X Combat Scanner.

"It was a tie. I brought back his head; she got the rest of him. As far as I know, we both got paid. Anyways, when I told Aleena about the diplomat's contract, she and I had a good laugh about it."

With some reluctance, I put down the coffee. Naturally, the first weapon I picked up was my sniper rifle. "What did you do?"

"Well, I wasn't going to lose the contract, but I respected Aleena. In the end, I let her pick the location where we'd fight. She chose some old salarian space station overrun with mercs and smugglers. That way, we didn't have to worry about hurting any innocent bystanders." Wrex shook his head. "Heh. She always was a bit of a softy."

Grabbing a Mark X Scram Rail, I slotted it into my sniper rifle. "What happened on the station?"

"What didn't happen? For two days, I chased her through that station. Used up my entire store of ammunition. Had to kill a bunch of mercs and use their crap weapons. By the third day, the station was barely holding together. The mercs were dead or gone. Life support was failing. But I had her.

"She'd locked herself in the med-labs. Trying to patch herself up. Damn tough, that one. Then, just when I was about to break in and finish her off, the station's core went critical. Barely made it back to my ship alive."

I pondered the merits of the Combat Optics mod I'd just picked up, then put it back down and grabbed another scram rail. Those things greatly increased the damage output of weapons, but at the risk of overheating them after one shot. And that risk would become a certainty with two of them. On the other hand, a good sniper only needs one shot. "I assume Aleena didn't make it?" I asked, putting down my sniper rifle and reaching for my pistol.

"I watched the station from a distance," Wrex replied. "Never saw her leave. And when that place blew... there was nothing left larger than a turian's right nut.

"So, I headed back to the diplomat to give him the good news and collect my pay. But before I got halfway there, Aleena sent me a message: 'Better luck next time.'"

Wrex chuckled again. "Now, I'm not superstitious, but if someone can survive that, well, they deserve to live. At least, for a bit longer."

Ashley of all people hadn't started to modify any of her new weapons, too caught up in Wrex's story. "What about the diplomat? He wanted her dead."

"I told him the truth." Wrex gave Ashley a feral grin and laughed. "Aleena was still alive, and she was _really _pissed. I told him if he wanted to live, he'd need me around to protect him."

Damn, that took... what was the krogan expression? A 'quad?' "And he believed you?"

Wrex slapped his knee in mirth. "He kept me on as his personal guard until he died. Natural causes. Easiest job I ever had. A little boring, but credits are credits."

* * *

In hindsight, I'm glad we had that little sit-down. Not because it was the first time all of us were together without being on some mission. Or because of the new weapons we got to play with. And it wasn't because of that damn good coffee.

It was because, after that day, things started to get _really _ugly.

* * *

_(1): Biotics hone their abilities by summoning mass effect fields in conjunction with body movements. The idea is to establish a form of "muscle memory", where a specific gesture will trigger a manipulation of biotic energy that will enable the desired effect. _

_(2): Subsequent forensic examination suggests that the damage corresponding to the fatal shot was more consistent with an assault rifle than a pistol._

_(3): Again, Shepard protests too much._

_(4): At the time, the exact cost was 149,625,000 credits. For readers who thrive on that sort of minutiae. _


	23. Personnel Report: Liara T'Soni

_Editorial Note: This personnel evaluation will examine Dr. Liara T'Soni. Readers are reminded that these evaluations were conducted after his mission was complete, and thus covers a number of conversations at different points in time, ranging from Shepard's first meeting with Liara to the events after Noveria._

**Personnel Evaluation—Liara T'Soni**

There was a short period of time when I considered pursuing higher education. Get a Bachelor's degree in something or other, maybe go to grad school. Considered something in the sciences, believe it or not. Biochem or genetics or something.

While I was still trying to make up my mind, I had a chance to shadow a grad student for a day. What I remember from that period was how enthusiastic they were for their chosen field of study. The sheer joy of doing whatever it was they did. Some of them had no reservations about sharing what they knew, either to show off or to infect me with their enthusiasm. Others were a little more shy about it.

Liara definitely falls into the latter category.

I remember our first conversation, just after rescuing her from the ruins of Therum. We had just finished the debriefing, which may have been accelerated by Liara's bout of dizziness. She seemed to have recovered when I checked in on her. Apparently, a couple minutes rest and quiet, coupled with a bite to eat, was just what the doctor ordered.

"I never properly thanked you for rescuing me from the geth, Commander," she said. "If you hadn't shown up…"

"I'm just glad we got there in time," I replied.

"So am I." Liara moved on to address something that was worrying her. Or something that she was worried I was worried about. Or… anyways, something was on her mind, and she was quick to bring it up: "I know you took a chance bringing me onboard this ship. I have seen the way your crew looks at me. They do not trust me. But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can do to help you stop Saren. I promise."

I generally don't try to make promises. Agreeing to yet another suicide mission is one thing: I can always point to 'just following orders.' Even if that excuse doesn't always hold out, at least it's there. A bold-faced promise, without any kind of safety net or caveat… that's a whole 'nother animal. Damn dangerous one, too: you're 100% accountable for that. So while I try not to do make any promises, I have no qualms about accepting them from others. **(1)**

"Don't worry, Liara," I reassured her. "I trust you. I know you won't let me down."

And if she does betray my trust, I thought silently, I can always give her a headshot, loot her corpse, and then shove it out the airlock. After keeping her alive long enough to see how much damage she caused and whether she answered to anyone else, of course. **(2)**

"It means a lot to hear you say that, Commander," Liara smiled. "Thank you."

"Tell me about yourself, Liara," I prompted.

Liara looked startled, as if no one had ever asked her that question before. "Me?" She suddenly found her feet very interesting. "I am afraid I am not very interesting, Commander," she admitted shyly. "I spend most of my time on remote digs, unearthing mundane items buried in long-forgotten Prothean ruins."

"Isn't that dangerous? Or lonely?"

"Sometimes I would run afoul of indigenous life-forms, or stumble across a small band of mercenaries or privates," she conceded. "But I was always careful. Until the geth followed me to the Artemis Tau cluster, I never found myself in any situation my biotics could not handle. As for the solitude, well, that is one aspect that most appealed to me. Sometimes, I just need to get away from other people."

"You don't like other people?" People can be remarkably self-centered sometimes, so I couldn't really blame her for that. It could be an issue if she was to become part of my squad, though.

"I suppose it comes from being a Matriarch's daughter. People expected me to follow in Benezia's footsteps. They wanted me to become a leader for my people. Matriarchs guide their followers into the future; they seek the truth of what is yet to come. Maybe that's why I became so interested in the secrets of the past."

She laughed. "It sounds so foolish when I say it out loud. It sounds like I became an archaeologist simply to spite Benezia."

"All children rebel against their parents," I shrugged. "It's a natural part of growing up."

Liara laughed again. "You share the wisdom of the Matriarch, Shepard. That is exactly what Benezia said when I told her of my decision. But there was more to it than that. I felt _drawn _to the past. The Protheans were these wondrous, mysterious figures. I wanted to know everything about them. That is why I find you so fascinating, Commander. You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime; you were touched by working Prothean technology!"

"Sounds like you wanna dissect me in a lab somewhere," I cracked.

Liara looked horrified. "What? No!" she hastened to reassure me. "I did not mean to insinuate—ah, I never meant to offend you. I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for an in-depth study—uh, no, that's even worse!"

"Calm down, Liara," I interrupted, seeing that she wasn't going to dig herself out of her self-made hole anytime soon. "I was only joking."

"Joking?" She gave me a blank look for a few seconds before my words finally penetrated. "Oh, by the Goddess! **(3)** How could I be so dense? You must think that I am a complete and utter fool. Now you know why I prefer to spend my time in the field with data discs and computers. I always manage to find some way to mess things up. Please… just pretend this conversation never happened."

I tried to do that during our next conversation. She'd more or less established herself in the back room of the sickbay by that point, merrily poking and prodding at the Prothean data discs we randomly picked up in the course of my obsessive search for extra resources. She was so immersed in her work; I had to cough to grab her attention.

"Maybe we could pick up where we left off," I suggested. "You were telling me about your interest in the Protheans."

"Actually, I think I was talking about my interest," she corrected, "and making a fool of myself in the process. As I said, I am not used to dealing with other people. Especially humans.

"I did not really know much about your species when we first met, Shepard," she explained. "I found it hard to take humanity seriously. Your kind always seemed so rushed and high-strung."

I suppressed the urge to bring up coffee as the answer, remembering her tendency to take things a bit literally. "We don't have the luxury of time. An asari can live for a thousand years. We're lucky if we hit 150."

"That is true. At first, I thought it was a weakness of your species. After spending some time with you and your crew, however, I think it might actually be an advantage." I encouraged her to continue, and she quickly obliged: "You humans are creatures of action. You pursue your goals with an almost indomitable determination. It is an admirable trait, but also an intimidating one."

"You're scared of us?"

"Unfortunately, the rest of the galaxy sees humanity as something of a bully. You run over anyone in your path to get what you want. It's up to people like you to change their minds, Shepard."

The part about other people looking at us like we were a pack of uncouth noobs wasn't exactly news. The part about my potential role, however, was. "Why me?"

"There is a reason the Council chose you to become a Spectre. They saw something special in you—the best of what humanity has to offer."

I decided not to mention my theories about TPTB being lousy judges of character, bored or just wanting to get rid of Udina for a while. Like I said, Liara didn't seem to have a firm grasp on sarcasm.

"I looked into your history," Liara continued. "I know what you did during the Blitz. It was a remarkable display of courage and heroism."

Courage? Heroism? Not really. Liara's admission that she found my records: _that_ was remarkable. The techies might _claim_ that the Alliance military database is simple and user-friendly but, in truth, it's anything but. Partly because software designers must have some gene-coded urge to make things complicated. Partly because they didn't want to make it easy for any random civvie to go poking around. Tali didn't have any problems figuring it out, but she's far from a 'random civvie', and she had Adams to help her out. Garrus had a hell of a time figuring out how to use the computer system to find and download all the update patches he needed to keep the Mako in what is laughingly called tip-top shape. And Wrex… well, Wrex never bothered. Too busy watching everyone else in the garage.

Liara, however, managed to figure out how our system worked and access my record. All on her own. I later found out that that record was the public, sanitized version; the one used by the Alliance for PR purposes (without a single cred going my way, I might add). I also learned that her accomplishment was the product of years of deciphering multiple academic databases, each with its own unique formatting system, and the various glyphs and algorithms found in Prothean ruins and data archives.

At the time, though, I was more interested in pinning down why she was so darn interested in me.

"I wanted to know more about you," she replied when I asked. "To understand what made you into the man you are. There is something compelling about you, Shepard."

Aw, crap.

"You're interested in me because of my visions," I said, trying to brush off this apparent infatuation before it took root. "You just want to know more about the Protheans."

"I admit, your connection to the Protheans had something to do with my initial interest. But it has grown beyond that."

Aw, crap.

"You intrigue me, Shepard. But I was not sure if it was appropriate to act on my feelings. I thought there might already be a relationship between you and Chief Williams."

Lie to her, lie to her, lie to her, lie to her…

"Williams and I are just friends. Nothing more."

Aw, crap. Why did I go and say that?

"My mistake, then. I am not as adept in understanding human relationships as I thought. But what about us, Shepard? Is there a mutual attraction? Or was I wrong about that, too?"

Now, someone else might jump at the opportunity that was practically offered on a silver platter. I mean, she wasn't bad looking—Kaidan told me in private that he found her 'easy on the eyes,' though he admitted that was just 'art appreciation' on his part. She was definitely smart. And any idiosyncrasies she displayed were rather charming. So why not take the plunge?

There are a couple reasons, I suppose. First, she was very young. Biologically, she might be 106; mentally, she came across as eighteen. Or younger. As insulting as it might sound, the term 'jailbait' kept running through my head.

Second, she was quite naïve. Sure, her experiences with mercs and geth and whatnot had given her a glimpse of the seedier side of life. But I've spent years on covert ops, observing the worst kind of people doing all sorts of horrible things to others (then doing something even worse myself). At best, I'd be shattering at least one or two of her illusions. At worst, I'd be dragging her into my world, kicking and screaming.

Third, and most important, any relationship with her would provide way too much insight into what a self-centered fake I am. This reputation of mine sucks, but it's all I've got, and I really don't want that particular bubble bursting anytime soon. **(4) **

"Um… I'm flattered, Liara. But I'm not interested in you that way."

There was a long and very awkward pause.

"This is very embarrassing for me, Commander," Liara finally said.

No kidding.

"Please, let's talk about something else."

Okay. "Do you know why Benezia joined up with Saren?"

Wrong question. Liara looked even more miserable. "I don't understand it. She was always outspoken about the need for asari to become more involved in shaping galactic events. Maybe she thought allying herself with Saren would somehow be for the greater good in the long run. At least, I hope so."

"This hurts you, doesn't it?" I observed.

"None of this makes any sense to me," she burst out. "I have not spoken to her in many years, but I knew her. And this was not like her. Something changed."

I would have thought that such a long gap without seeing Benezia might account for that change, but clearly Liara thought otherwise. I decided to shift the conversation in another direction, rather than leave her in the swamp of misery I put her in, so I asked her about her people. Most of what she said could be found in any tourist guide: First species to discover the Citadel, main force in forming the Council, 'voice of peaceful cooperation' in galactic disputes, blah, blah, blah.

She did go into some of the stereotypes that revolve around the asari, something that probably wouldn't be standard tourist crap. Mostly because it revolves around asari reproduction.

Okay, that sounds wrong. I should probably elaborate on that one.

Although asari look female, and everyone calls them by that gender, they are actually mono-gendered. For the purposes of reproduction, an asari needs a partner. However, that partner can be come from any species, and be of either gender.

I'll pause a moment for readers to get their fantasies out of the way. **(5) **

What's even more interesting is that physical contact isn't necessary. It probably provides a few perks, but it's not necessary. Asari have a control over their physiology that is unmatched. Not only does it make them amongst the most powerful biotics, it also allows them to meld with the memories, mnemonic and genetic, of their partner.

So how does this tie in to reproduction? Asari transfer two copies of their genes to their offspring. One copy, however is randomized, based on the genetic code of their partner. Before they developed spaceflight, asari usually mated with other asari. Nowadays, though, they tend to pick members of other species as their partner. Given that most of those species, with the exception of krogan, don't live a thousand years or so, asari have adopted a 'philosophical' outlook towards their union, focusing on the time they spend together and the fact that their partner lives on after death through the melding.

Things were a little different in Liara's case, which I found out when I asked who Matriarch Benezia's partner was.

Liara looked down, her discomfort plain to see. "She rarely spoke of her partner, though I know my 'father'—if you want to use that term—was another asari."

"Benezia never told you her partner's name?" I asked.

"Union with our own kind is no longer common. Not for the purposes of reproduction," Liara explained. "Most asari believe it weakens our species. Asari daughters inherit racial traits from the 'paternal' species. If both parents are asari, then nothing has been gained. **(6) **Or so conventional wisdom would hold. I am what is sometimes called a 'pureblood,' though no asari would ever be cruel enough to say the word to my face. It is a grave insult amongst my people.

"It is possible Benezia's parents was embarrassed by their union. She may have been too… ashamed to publicly acknowledge me as her offspring."

"Have you considered other explanations? Maybe she wanted to meet you, but couldn't," I suggested. "Something could have happened to her. Maybe she passed away."

"You might be right," Liara conceded. "I hope you are. But I have no way to know for sure. Benezia never spoke of her partner. She raised me by herself, though that is not uncommon. Many asari raise their children alone, particularly if the father's species is short-lived. As I said, the partner will often pass on long before the child reaches maturity."

It was kind of obvious that I brushed up across some old wounds of Liara's. The conversation kind of puttered out after that. Not exactly the most uplifting way to end things. This made our next conversation, shortly after Benezia's death, all the more awkward.

"If you are here to talk about Benezia's death, you need not bother," Liara said when I popped by sickbay. "She brought it upon herself."

Just like that? It's done, it's over, let's move on? I mean, I do that all the time, but it's part and parcel of being a goddamn hero. "Don't pretend it doesn't bother you," I replied, not bothering to conceal my concern. "She was your mother."

Liara shrugged. "She was… but she was not. I prefer to remember Benezia as she used to be, before she was corrupted by Sovereign's power."

"The best of your mother lives on in you," I offered. "Her determination, her intelligence, her strength."

She gave me a wan smile. "That is kind of you to say. I appreciate your concern, but I am fine. Benezia chose her path, just as I have chosen mine. I am with you until the end, Shepard."

Somehow, that didn't put my mind at ease. I don't know why, to be honest. Wasn't it possible that she was more mature than I was giving her credit for? I mean, she was over three times my age. And she certainly appeared to be taking things in stride. Hell, during our next conversation, she even asked how _I _was doing.

On the other hand, she did seem awfully young and naïve. And she was ripped from her relatively tranquil life of exploration and excavation in quiet ruins, after which she learned that her field of study had just gone from a matter of mere academic interest to something with galactic ramifications. All that might not be a big deal, had she not just watched, and participated in, the death of her mother.

I dunno. Maybe she was right.

Maybe she was fine.

Maybe my paranoid streak was mistaken.

Maybe.

_

* * *

_

(1): The key point here may be the fact that Shepard feels an obligation to honour any promises he makes, something that he naturally neglects to mention.

_(2): Shepard certainly made a habit of accepting people's promises of loyalty at face value, particularly during this mission. I suspect part of his willingness to take what other people would regard as a risk lay in his uncanny ability to judge people's character. Another factor, albeit a more distasteful one, was his determination to deal with any 'traitors' in whatever manner he saw fit. _

_(3): This may refer to the goddess Athame, one of the few deities still worshipped after the majority of asari culture adopted the pantheistic religion of siari. It could also be a cultural expression that was ingrained into asari vernacular, rather than an expression of Dr. T'Soni's personal beliefs. _

_(4): While a relationship with an asari might result in less privacy than usual, Shepard's explanation might not be entirely accurate. Anecdotal evidence and personal logs from his colleagues indicate that Shepard's romantic life was generally non-existent, given how his pursuits usually resulted in rejection or letdown. Despite the validity of Shepard's points, I suspect the primary reason for his reticence was that he simply did not want to get hurt (again)—either from the emotional fallout of rejection or any fallout that might come from discovering the truth about the 'real' Shepard._

_(5): I wish Shepard was mistaken. I really do. _

_(6): There is another condition that is anecdotally linked to asari-asari unions. Shepard would not learn about this for another two years or so, though, and it does not impact on this personnel report. _


	24. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

I was on the command deck when the Normandy popped out of the Sentry Omega mass relay and entered the Hoc system. Couldn't help it. After months on Saren's trail, it felt like we were finally catching up to him, and I just had to be there when we arrived at Virmire.

I wasn't the only one who was feeling something. Garrus was pissed that Saren was always one step ahead of us, worried that TPTB would just let him go, and was of the opinion that we should deal with him in a more permanent fashion. Tali was finding this whole adventure rather exciting, and was trying to calm down before she accidentally jeopardized the mission. Kaidan couldn't believe that TPTB seemed so determined to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that it was all business as usual...

Speaking of which, Kaidan was in the cockpit, sitting in the co-pilot seat next to Joker.

"Couldn't resist the urge to see Virmire in person?" I asked casually when I arrived.

"That, and I was feeling a migraine coming on, so I wanted to get away from that blinking panel," he responded. He must have seen my concern, because he hastened to add: "It's just a dull throb right now. Don't worry: by my standards, it might as well not be there."

"Commander, I'm reading a signal," Joker interrupted. "Must be our salarian infiltration team," he added as the Normandy entered synchronous orbit above Virmire.

Kaidan immediately leaned forward and started a scan. After a minute, he whistled. "Check out those AA towers."

"Get the team suited up," I ordered. Kaidan nodded, got up and left the cockpit. "Joker, drop the Mako as soon as we're ready. We'll go in hot and take them out. Until then, you'll have to stay out of range."

"I know the drill, Commander. I'll get you in underneath their radar and meet you at the camp once the towers are offline," Joker promised.

About twelve minutes later, the Mako had been dropped and we were on our way. Unlike all the other planets we'd visited, either to play the game of Spectre Tag or indulge my need to explore every nook and cranny, Virmire was a tourist's dream come true. Warm tropical climate. Bright sun shining in the blue sky, with only a couple wispy clouds to mar the view. Canyon walls and patches of white sand lining the shallow, crystal clear stream we were driving through, with loads of lush vegetation all around. The only reason no one bothered to set up a colony here was its proximity to the Terminus Systems. Apparently the risk of visits by slavers, pirates or mercs kinda ruins the whole façade of paradise.

Then I rounded the corner and saw the latest discouragement to colonization: geth rocket drones.

We fired back at them, and quickly found out that the Mako's weapons weren't the best tools to take out drones, what with their annoying manoeuvrability and all. Unfortunately, popping out and shooting them out of the sky on foot wasn't an option either, what with those rockets flying everywhere. Still, the MAC cannon did a handy job of taking out the drones in a jiff. Same with the next bunch of rocket drones. Next couple groups of geth took a bit longer, as they were larger than the perimeter patrols. They also mixed in some assault drones and rocket troopers for variety. We dealt with those guys too, though the Mako's shields took a bit of a beating by the time the last hostile bit the dust. It didn't help that the geth were starting to jam our sensors, forcing us to switch entirely to manual control.

I was debating whether to take a break and let the Mako's shields recover when I rounded a corner. A guard station of some sort lay about a hundred metres in front of me, spanning the entire width of the canyon. We could drive through easily enough. But first we'd have to take out a whackload of geth. Unless we wanted them shooting up our backsides.

By that point, we had the drill down pat: ID the biggest threat and blow it up with the MAC. Spray down everything else with the machine gun until the MAC reloaded. Rinse, repeat. Just to be thorough, we got out and eliminated the remaining infantry units that were out of the Mako's line of sight. Just a sniper, a couple troopers and a bunch of those hoppers. Got some more loot out of it, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

When we got back in the Mako, though, my paranoid streak told me the easy part was probably over. The Mako's sensors were picking up a bunch of targets up around the next corner. Couldn't tell us what, but it flagged at least one red diamond—which was its usual designation for anything that could pose a serious anti-vehicle threat.

Please don't let it be a freakin' armature, I prayed as we drove. Not that I thought anyone might be listening. In my experience, the universe can be remarkably deaf at times.

We rounded the corner, and I saw that the Mako hadn't detected an armature.

It had detected a colossus. The armature's big brother.

Figures—when the universe isn't deaf, it's usually indulging its warped sense of humour.

To make things even better, the canyon split into a fork about three hundred metres past the colossus. Both paths had a pair of armatures lurking just beyond the confluence. Far enough apart that they couldn't immediately reinforce each other, close enough that both pairs could see us.

So: five armature-class geth (one of which was the older brother). All of whom had line of sight on us. What are the chances that they'll collectively leave us alone?

Yeah. Didn't think so.

The whole jump n' shoot routine we'd perfected over the last little while was kinda geared to dodge the siege pulses of one armature, not five, so it was inevitable that we'd take hits no matter what. It was also inevitable that the Mako's shields would start dropping fast.

So I did what I'd been itching to do ever since this whole nightmare started: I put the Mako in reverse and got the heck out of there.

Well, not exactly. Bad for my rep if I just turn tail and run like that. I did retreat far enough so that none of the geth could get a clear shot at us. If we were lucky, the geth wouldn't pursue, and we could regenerate the shields while thinking up a new brilliant plan. If we were unlucky... well, hopefully they'd only come after us one at a time. Wishful thinking, you'd think. Only happens in the vids, you'd think.

So imagine our surprise when the colossus lumbered around the corner without any backup.

Ashley and Wrex were at the weapons controls at the time, and they didn't need to wait for my orders to start firing. "Lucky for us that the other armatures aren't tagging along," Ashley hollered as the machine guns whittled down the colossus's shields.

"I, for one, am not complaining," Liara called back.

"Neither am I," I chimed in. "Means we can give each of these guys the personal attention they deserve." Coincidentally, Wrex's well-aimed MAC round hit some critical part of the colossus at that very moment, and it collapsed in a heap.

"Our barriers are at 63%," Kaidan reported.

Garrus hissed in frustration. "It'll take forever for the barriers to fully regenerate," he said impatiently. "What are we going to do, just sit here and wait?"

"Actually, I thought we'd take the fight to them," I answered.

"With the Mako in its current state, four-on-one odds do not seem advisable," Tali pointed out.

"True, but those four are in different parts of the canyon up ahead," I reminded the squad. "If we move fast enough, we can get into one of the forks and cut our opposition in half. And I've got a plan on temporarily disabling one of the armatures once we get that far."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Garrus murmured.

He was right. None of the squad liked my plan. Well, except Wrex, though even he conceded that we'd need to time things just right. Once I made my decision, though, everyone sighed and buckled in. Things were about to get very interesting.

Stomping my foot hard on the pedal, the Mako bolted forward. We rounded the corner so fast, the Mako almost flipped over. Arbitrarily, I pointed us towards the left pair of armatures, got up close...

...and rammed one of them so hard its legs buckled. By the time I deigned to lift my foot off the pedal, the Mako was parked on top of it. Mind you, we were at a 30-degree angle off the ground, but Ashley and Wrex had no problems pointing the Mako's guns on the other armature and opening fire. Eventually we were shoved off our perch, but we'd taken out the other armature by that point and could direct our attention to the first one while it was still getting to its feet. Once that was done, we drove around the corner and repeated the whole procedure.

And then we merrily continued on our way, taking out random armatures, drones and other geth that were scattered throughout the canyon.

After about ten minutes or so, the Mako's sensors cut out, suggesting the presence of some geth with ECM capability. Which meant we'd be going in blind. In a damaged Mako that only had a sliver of shields left.

Kaidan was just as enthusiastic at that prospect as I was. "Maybe we should just hang tight for a moment and let the Mako recover."

"I think we're going to have to do more than that," Tali said. "We need to do some field repairs."

"But what about Saren?" Garrus protested.

"Garrus. We're on _fire_," Tali rebutted. "We need to fix the Mako. _Now_."

She was right. There were three sections of the Mako that had literally burst into flames by the time we destroyed the first five armatures and colossi. We'd been spending every second since driving down the canyon, with flames and smoke streaming behind us. Cool visual effect, I'm sure. But not exactly conducive to my peace of mind.

"Tali's right," I decided. "Let's break out the omni-gel and start patching the Mako up. Making up for lost time won't help if we get blown to pieces."

It took fifteen units of omni-gel and almost that many minutes before the fires were out and the shields were restored. **(1)** Well, restored to 88%, but I figured we could regenerate the rest on the go.

Then we turned around the corner and saw another gatehouse, dead ahead, guarded by six or so rocket and shock troopers. And two snipers, which explained why our sensors were getting jammed. A volley of rockets greeted us, making me very thankful that we took some time out for repairs.

We returned the favour and quickly eliminated our opposition. Looked like there were some more geth lurking about, but we'd have to hunt them down on foot. Not something I would have normally volunteered for, but we would've had to get out anyway to find some way to open the gates. I don't think the Mako was up for blowing up the gates or ramming through them, and no one wanted to try driving up the walls. **(2)**

"We haven't come across anything that could shut down the AA guns," Garrus commented as we got out. "There must be a way to shut them down."

"Maybe we'll find it here," Tali suggested.

"Hope so," Ashley muttered before raising her assault rifle. "Heads up! Looks like we've got company coming."

That company being a pack of destroyers. Luckily, they had to stomp their way through a tunnel of some sort to get to us, which allowed us to focus our fire quite nicely. It looked like it had been bored through solid rock into a larger chamber of some sort, which was where the geth had set up a number of machines and generators. Once we took out the geth, we checked out the chamber. It only took us a few minutes before we IDed the controls to the nearest AA guns as well as the gate controls.

I went over to tackle the AA guns first, something that Joker noticed right away. "I'm reading that the grid is down, Commander," he reported. "On approach to the salarian base now. Out."

I confirmed his report and moved on to open the gate controls. Garrus had beaten me to it, though, and had moved on to hack a nearby weapons container. I felt so proud.

After looting whatever we could, we got back into the Mako and headed off. It was relatively peaceful, other than yet another gatehouse guarded by a dozen geth. Easy pickings for us. I was beginning to think that we'd finally caught a break.

Then Joker contacted us on the comm. Again. "Uh, Commander? Normandy's touched down at the base, but it looks like we're grounded."

"What's going on, Joker," I asked.

"We're kinda screwed at the moment," he replied.

Great.

"The salarian captain can explain when you get here."

Just great.

* * *

I spent some time going over the Mako when we arrived, just to make sure nothing was going to blow up any time soon. By the time I was done, Kaidan and Ashley were already talking to the salarian captain.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Kaidan was asking as I approached.

"Stay put until we can come up with a plan," the salarian captain replied.

"You in charge here?" I butted in. "What's the sitrep?"

"I'm Captain Kirrahe, Third Infiltration Regiment, STG," he introduced himself. "You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hot zone. Every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence." **(3)**

"So flying around is out of the question," I interpreted. "What do we do in the meantime?"

"We stay put until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested," Kirrahe replied.

Kaidan, Ashley and I looked at each other. It was Kaidan who gave the bad news: "We are the reinforcements."

"What?" Kirrahe asked aghast. "You're _all _they sent? I told the Council to send a fleet."

"We couldn't understand your transmission," I explained. "The Council sent us to investigate."

"That is a repetition of our task. I lost two thirds of my men _'investigating'_ this place," Kirrahe spat bitterly.

"So what have you found?" Kaidan asked, attempting to move things along.

"Saren's place of operations," Kirrahe replied, regaining his composure. "He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

"Is he here?" I pounced. "Have you seen him?"

Kirrahe shook his head. "No. But his geth are everywhere and we've intercepted some comms referring to Saren. This is his facility, there's no doubt about that."

"What's Saren researching?" I asked. Maybe he was trying to build better guns. Or discover the answer to life, the universe and everything...

"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan."

Huh. There's that, I suppose.

By this point the rest of the squad had joined us and had heard the whole sitrep. Wrex, understandably, was a little shocked. "How is that possible?" he asked in a stunned voice.

Kirrahe shrugged. "Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage."

Saren, the geth, whatever mercs he hired or indoctrinated, and an army of krogan... "Okay, that might be a problem," I admitted.

"Exactly my thoughts, Commander," Kirrahe agreed. "We must ensure that this facility and its secrets are destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Wrex shook his head. "I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure could save us."

Kirrahe turned to me. "If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again."

I winced inwardly. Kirrahe struck me as an honest and pragmatic soldier, but it occurred to me that his tact could use a bit of work.

Something that quickly became evident when Wrex stomped towards him. For a moment, I thought he was going to pound him flat. Instead, he stared at the salarian captain for a minute and jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "We are not a mistake!" he barked, before turning around and stalking away.

"Well," I said dryly, "that went well."

Seemingly nonplussed by his near-death experience, Kirrahe turned towards me again. "Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with."

"He'll be fine," I assured him. "I'll talk to him."

"I'd appreciate that, Commander," Kirrahe sighed. "Now, my men and I have to rethink our plan of attack. Can you give us some time?"

"Go ahead, Captain. Take all the time you need."

"We won't be long, Commander," Kirrahe reassured me. "In the meantime, if you need any supplies, you can talk to Commander Rentola. He's in one of the tents nearby."

Garrus, Liara and Tali went off to find this Commander Rentola, leaving Kaidan, Ashley and I to discuss a certain teammate. "Looks like things are a bit of a mess," Kaidan observed.

"Yeah," Ashley agreed. "I wouldn't be so worried if it weren't for Wrex. He looks like he's going to blow a gasket."

"I was just about to go talk to him," I said without thinking. Then I realized I just volunteered to convince a pissed-off krogan to destroy the one thing that could save his people from extinction.

Aw, crap.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Ashley started. "Well... it might, actually. Just be careful," she finished lamely.

"I will," I nodded. Bracing myself, I walked towards Wrex. He was trying to vent some frustration by shooting fish with his shotgun. At least, I'm pretty sure he was blowing off steam: the shotgun didn't leave much behind for anyone to eat. Better them than me.

"This isn't right, Shepard," Wrex snapped when I got close. "If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it."

"Wrex, I understand you're upset," I started. "But Saren's the one you should be angry with."

"Really? Saren's created a cure for my people. You guys want to destroy it."

"We don't even know if it's an actual cure or just some damn placebo. And even if it does work, we both know Saren didn't make this out of the goodness of his heart. He made it as a weapon. And if Saren is allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits. None of us will!"

"That's a chance we should be willing to take, Shepard," Wrex cried out in frustration. "This is the fate of my entire people we're talking about here!"

"I know, Wrex," I started. Then I realized that Wrex's shotgun was starting to drift a bit. Towards me.

Aw crap.

I instinctively yanked out my pistol and pointed at him. Bad move, as that prompted Wrex to reciprocate. Now we were in the midst of the ol' Mexican standoff. Clearly, my original plan, if I ever had one, wasn't working.

"I've been loyal to you so far," Wrex said a little too softly. "Hell, you did more for me than my family ever did. **(4)** But if I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing this for the right reasons."

Right reasons, right reasons, right reasons. My mind flashed back to one of our earlier conversations, when he admitted he would rather turn down credits than accept payment for a job he didn't do. I remembered his comments at the Krogan Monument, where he sadly lamented the fall of his people from a proud and fierce nation to a pack of guns-for-hire that had forgotten their roots. And I recalled his efforts to unify his people and implement some kind of plan to replenish his people's numbers, only to be betrayed by his own father.

And that's when I came with Plan B. Born purely out of desperation, but what can you do?

"Wrex, these krogan are not your people," I declared. To make a point, I lowered my pistol. Probably wouldn't have helped anyways. "They have nothing to do with the bravery or honour that exemplified the krogan. They're not even the run-of-the-mill guns-for-hire you see hanging out as mercs or bouncers. They're just slaves of Saren. _Tools_. Is that what you want for them? Is that what you want for the legacy of your people?"

For a moment, I thought he'd say yes. And, to make matters worse, shoot me. Instead he lowered his shotgun, much to my relief. "No," he said finally. "We were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be as generous."

"If past experience is any indication, that's highly unlikely," I agreed.

With a sigh, Wrex holstered his shotgun. Somehow, my knees didn't buckle. "All right, Shepard. You've made your point. I don't like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead."

I love plan B. I really do.

"Thanks," I nodded. "I'm sorry I have to ask this of you."

Wrex nodded back. "Just one thing."

"Yeah?"

"When we find Saren," he rumbled grimly, "I want his head."

"Fair enough."

* * *

I spent the next half hour running up and down the beach, seeing if there was anything worth looting from the camp. There wasn't. The only secure crate I could find had nothing more than some data files on salarian military organization, the kind of sanitized crap you could find on the extranet. Finally, I gave up and went back to Kirrahe.

Kirrahe began by turning to Wrex. "I apologize for my earlier remarks," he said. "Between the past history of my people and yours, coupled with the stress of this mission..."

Wrex stared at the captain for a long minute before finally giving a grunt. Taking that as an acceptance, he turned to me. "And thank you for speaking with Wrex," he added. "The assault on Saren's base will be difficult enough as it is."

"I assume that means you've come with a plan?" I asked.

"Of sorts," he confirmed. "We can convert our ship's drive system into a twenty-kiloton ordnance. Crude, but effective."

"Nice," Ashley grinned. "Drop that nuke from orbit, and Saren can kiss his turian ass goodbye."

"Unfortunately, the facility's too well fortified for that," Kirrahe disagreed, shaking his head.

Of course it was.

"Between the AA guns and the composition of the building materials, even a bunker-buster wouldn't do the trick," he elaborated. "We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location near the external regulators to the power core."

"Where's that?" I asked. "How do we get there?"

"On the far side of the facility," he replied. "Your ship can easily drop it off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns and pacify any ground forces first."

"Hang on," Kaidan broke in. "You want to go in on foot? We don't have enough men!"

He was right. My squad only had seven people. Kirrahe and what remained of his STG made another nine. Sixteen people storming such a well-fortified position was tantamount to suicide. "We won't be able to meet their force head on," I added.

Kirrahe nodded his agreement. "Definitely not, but I think we can work around that."

I motioned for him to continue.

"I'm going to divide my men into three teams, hit the front of the facility and take out one of the AA guns. While we've got their attention, you can sneak your 'shadow' team through the back and tackle the other one."

If the salarians wanted to serve as bait, who am I to argue? Still, my reputation demanded that I show some concern with this plan: "It's a good idea, but your men are going to be slaughtered."

"We're tougher than we look, Commander," Kirrahe said bravely before conceding the point "but it's true. I don't expect many of us will make it out alive."

Good. At least I made a token protest.

"And that makes what I'm going to ask even more difficult."

Uh oh.

"I need one of your men to accompany me. To help coordinate the teams."

Aw, crap.

Made sense, though. Kirrahe's men had been beaten down hard. To maximize what was left of their operational effectiveness, they'd need someone who could provide some C2. **(5)** "We'll need someone who is familiar with Alliance communications protocols," I concluded. "To coordinate with my team."

That narrowed the list down to Kaidan and Ashley.

"I volunteer, Commander," Kaidan said immediately.

"Not so fast, L.T.," Ashley interrupted. "Commander Shepard will need you to arm the nuke. I'll go with the salarians."

"With all due respect, Gunnery Chief," Kaidan said pointedly, "it's not your place to decide."

Ashley threw her hands up in frustration. "Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect,' they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"

Of the two, Kaidan had the most experience with leading and coordinating teams. Hell, that was why I made him assistant squad leader in the first place. Therefore...

"Alenko, you're with the captain," I declared. "Keep it simple, understood?"

"Aye, aye, Commander," he acknowledged.

"I'll have the ordnance loaded on the Normandy and brief your crew on its detonation sequences," Kirrahe continued. "Do you have any questions before we go, Commander?"

"I want to know more about the bomb. How reliable is it going to be?"

"Its reliability depends on the person arming it," Kirrahe replied. "But it will do the job. The drive system is highly impervious to damage from external sources. Once it has been armed, very little can stop it. The key is getting it into place and armed before the geth can stop us."

"'Shadow' seems clear enough for my squad's call-sign. What will the other teams be called?"

"Aegohr, Mannovai and Jaeto," Kirrahe said immediately. "They were the initial settlements on our first three colony worlds. They are at the heart of salarian territory to this day. These names will remind my men what they are fighting for. They must have a personal stake in the fight if we are to have any chance of success."

Yes. Success. Very important. "Speaking of success, the Normandy's picking us up. How will your teams escape the blast?"

"We will engage the geth as long as possible. Once the bomb is in place, we will fall back to try to escape the blast radius. If we move quickly, we should be able to escape with acceptable casualties. If not, then our memories will live on as martyrs to a greater cause."

I raised an eyebrow. "That seems rather... fatalistic."

Kirrahe gave a sad smile. "I won't lie to you, Commander. There is a chance none of us will survive this assault. Even your team. But we do what is necessary."

"Well, why don't we do what we can to improve our chances?" I suggested.

"You have a suggestion?"

"Fall back to a predetermined rendezvous point. Once the bomb is in place and my team is onboard, we'll swing by in the Normandy and pick you up. That way, you get clear of the blast and, since your ship would be disabled anyways, you get transport to wherever you want to go."

"As long as you don't jeopardize the mission in doing so, my men and I would be grateful," Kirrahe agreed. "Is there anything else, Commander?"

"I think we're done," I decided. "Let's do this."

"Excellent," Kirrahe said. "Then if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare my men."

While he headed off, the rest of us gathered together. "Well, this is it," Kaidan said.

I nodded absently, my mind focused on how to reorganize the teams now that I was 'loaning' out Kaidan. "Ashley, you've had demolitions training, right?"

"Yep," Ashley said. "Before I joined the 212 on Eden Prime."

"Right," I decided. "I want you to drop by when Kirrahe is giving his briefing. You've got as much demo training as Kaidan, but he'll be off with the salarians. Once we've secured the bomb site, I want you to split off from the squad and help oversee its placement."

"Right," Ashley nodded.

"Meanwhile, we'll need to reorganize the teams," I continued. "Wrex, Tali: you'll join me on Team One. Garrus, you'll lead Ashley and Liara on Team Two."

"Me, Commander?" Garrus looked startled.

"You took over as team leader on Sharjila," I reminded him.

"That's right. You did a good job," Tali chimed in.

Wrex chuckled. "You asked for it, C-Sec."

Garrus still looked a bit unsure. "You'll be fine, Garrus," Kaidan reassured him. "If you're ever in doubt, just ask yourself 'What Would Shepard Do?'"

"Oh that's easy," Garrus said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Search every nook and cranny, open everything that isn't locked down and hack open anything that is. Even in the middle of a battle."

We had a good laugh at that. Helped break the tension we were all feeling.

"Seriously," Kaidan said once the chuckles died down "don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, guys. That goes for you too, Commander."

It was Ashley's turn to reassure Kaidan. "We'll be fine, L.T."

"Yeah, I just... good luck," Kaidan finished lamely.

"Is there something you wanted to say, Kaidan," I asked.

He shrugged. "It's just weird, going under someone else's command. I've gotten so used to working with you." He looked around at the squad. "All of you," he added.

"Don't worry so much," Ashley said. "We'll see you on the other side."

"I know," Kaidan said before turning to me. "I, uh... I just wanted to say it's been an honour serving with you, Commander."

"It doesn't matter if we're in the same unit or not," I replied, "we're still a team. Watch each other's backs, keep your eyes open and fight like I know you can. We'll all come out of this in one piece."

"You bet, Commander."

I wrapped things up at this point, as I noticed that the salarians were all lined up. Kirrahe stood in front of them. Time for him to give a little pep talk, I guess. They needed it: all of them were smart enough to know that they were stuck with a suicide mission, and their posture and twitchiness kinda gave them away.

"You all know the mission, and what is at stake," Kirrahe began. "I have come to trust each of you with my life, but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We were trained for espionage, after all. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way.

Kirrahe began to walk along the line of salarians, looking each of his men in the eye. "Think of our heroes: the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are.

"Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers."

Every salarian was riveted; backs straightened, shoulders squared. So were the squad and I, surprisingly enough.

"Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that, we held the line. Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line.

"Our influence will stop Saren. In the battle today, we will _hold the line!_"

Wow. And I thought I could BS speeches.

Kirrahe turned towards me. "Good luck, Commander," he said simply. "I hope we will meet again."

All I could do is nod.

* * *

_(1): Shepard doesn't mention it, but he had accumulated enough credits from selling unused equipment and weapons that he could afford to convert some of the remaining excess to omni-gel. In fact, he had so much omni-gel, a mere fifteen units would be nothing more than a drop in the proverbial bucket. _

_(2): For all its many flaws, the M35 Mako had two chief qualities. One was the sheer amount of damage it could endure before repairs were required. The other was its ability to navigate up and over any obstacle in its path. Alliance reports were always filled with tales about the latest mountain or cliff that the Mako climbed over, something that made their reading substantially more entertaining. _

_(3): Officially, the Systems Alliance adopted the metric system for the purposes of measurement. Unofficially, other systems remained in use, something that caused no end of confusion for nonhumans and humans alike. _

_(4): Shepard is referring to his personnel report on Wrex, in which he went out of his way to help Wrex recover his family's armour._

_(5): Command and Control: the use of __personnel, equipment, communications, facilities, and procedures in planning, directing, coordinating, and controlling forces and operations to complete a mission. While it is typically conducted from a secure facility or a command post, it is not uncommon for officers to perform such functions on the front line. _


	25. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The next two hours were filled with frenzied preparation. Everyone was off prepping their gear and loading up on ammo mods. Kirrahe and Kaidan spent their time ironing out comm frequencies, coded phrases and other minutiae to ensure they wouldn't get killed in the first thirty-eight minutes. Ashley spent part of her time getting a crash course in improvised ship-core-turned-nuke, and apparently impressed Kirrahe with some insightful suggestions on how to increase its yield and where to place it.

Then, with a final goodbye, Kaidan left to join Kirrahe and his men, leaving us to circle round the facility to our designated ingress points. That took another forty minutes or so.

"Comm check," Kirrahe's voice broke in. Right on time. "Do you read me, Commander?"

"Loud and clear," I replied.

"Good. We'll start our push. We'll try to make it towards the AA guns, but it might be up to you to finish the job." He paused before adding "And Commander? If you see any way to undermine their defences, we could definitely use the help."

We both knew what he meant. At some point, Kirrahe handed me an OSD with a detailed map of the facility's perimeter, based on the extensive recon that his team had managed to conduct. There were three points that were highlighted: an outpost configured for communications, a second outpost with a satellite uplink, and a re-fuelling platform for geth drones. Taking out any of these three targets, which were located between our point of insertion and the rear entrances of the facility, would make Kirrahe's job a hell of a lot easier.

Technically, I didn't have to do that. Going out of my way to tackle these secondary targets would jeopardize my own mission, and he knew that. Hence the way he phrased it as a suggestion. On the other hand, it would look bad if I didn't. So we headed off to the nearest outpost.

We kept our comms on Kirrahe's channel, so we could keep apprised on their progress. Something that came into play a minute later. "Shadow is on the ground," we heard Kirrahe say. "Repeat: Shadow is on the ground. Lt. Alenko, with Aeghor team. Mannovai and Jaeto teams, move! Time to get their attention!"

Shortly after that, we arrived at the first outpost. Basically a platform on stilts, with a catwalk leading down to the ground, guarded by a smattering of snipers and shock troopers. As they started firing, we quickly took cover behind some nearby boulders and started shooting back.

"Fire is coordinated on Mannovai team," Kaidan's voice broke in. "We can't reach the geth turrets. They're out of range!"

"Guess it's up to us," Garrus murmured, taking out a sniper with a sniper shot of his own. Not to be outdone, I did the same. A second later, Ashley took out the last geth. Well, last geth that we could see—judging by the JAMMED signal our HUDs were giving us, there was still one more geth lying about.

I motioned for Team Two to scout around the base of the outpost while I led Team One up the catwalk. We were halfway up the catwalk when a destroyer stomped into sight. Weapon at the ready. Shields fully charged. Close enough to reach out and pound us to a pile of pulp.

Aw, crap.

The destroyer let loose a shot, which we all managed to duck. In return, Wrex created a biotic field around it, lifting it up in the air. The effect only lasted for a minute, but that was more than enough time for us to destroy the destroyer.

I know: bad pun. Couldn't help it.

By that point, Team Two had joined us, having secured the immediate perimeter. Together, we took out the last geth—a sniper as it turned out—and found a control panel to a comm system. From what we could gather, the geth were using it to triangulate enemy positions. Naturally we shut it down before we departed.

The impact of our little good deed came very quickly. "Something scrambled their targeting," Kirrahe reported. "We've got a shot! Lt. Alenko, take the heat off Mannovai!"

"Roger," we heard Kaidan reply.

We stopped a moment to get our bearings. The terrain was a bit confusing, what with the canyons forking all over the place like a giant maze. It looked like there was a fork in the road up ahead, which merged back together into the large clearing that held the second outpost. On a whim, I motioned for Team Two to go left, while we took the other route. I figured they were both the same.

Turns out I was wrong.

It started out innocuously enough. Meet a couple geth troopers, blow off their flashlight heads, move on. Bump into another trooper, accompanied by a pair of assault drones. Riddle them with holes.

Then we went round a corner and merrily entered the line of sight of a rocket drone.

Cursing, we scattered, just in time to avoid a rocket.

"Tali," I called out, "take out its shields before it reloads!"

"On it," she hollered back, hurling her tech mine like a miniature discus. I was quick to follow with a mine of my own, one that would temporarily disable that pesky rocket launcher. Now that it was vulnerable, we had a bit of breathing room with which to take it out.

My heart was still pounding, though.

Thankfully, there wasn't any more excitement until we saw the second outpost. Kirrahe's men weren't so lucky, judging from his comments: "They're calling sat-strikes! Jaeto, watch out for comm stations! Lt. Alenko, can you see anything?"

"Garrus," I radioed. "You there?"

"Affirmative," Garrus said. "I've been sweeping the outpost with my sniper rifle, and I've located the satellite uplink."

I pulled out my sniper rifle and did a sweep of my own. "I confirm the uplink," I reported. I frowned as my scope found something else. "And a geth. Shock trooper, by the looks of it. Can you see it?"

"Negative," Garrus said after a pause. "No visual on the trooper. Recommend you take it out while I deal with the uplink."

"Agreed," I said, zooming in on the trooper. "Take out your target on three: one, two, three."

Presumably, our rifles went off in unison. I couldn't say for sure, what with the built-in silencers muffling the shots. All I know is, the shock trooper collapsed in a heap, a hole drilled right through its flashlight head. When I lifted my head from the scope, I saw bits of equipment and scaffolding tumbling down from the crumpled remains of the satellite uplink.

Over the comm, I heard Garrus snort. "That must have been the flimsiest satellite I've ever seen."

"Probably could've taken it out with a pistol," Ashley agreed. "Or a sneeze."

"Okay, that's enough chatter," I broke in. "Let's move in on the outpost."

"Right. Sorry," Garrus and Ashley said in unison, sounding chagrined.

We met up at the bottom of the outpost. "Finally some action," Ashley grinned.

"All we came across were a pair of troopers," Garrus explained.

"We got _three _troopers, plus a bunch of drones," Wrex bragged. "Some of them had rockets."

Tali just looked at Team Two, then looked at me. Probably wondering why I had such lousy luck, and why she had the bad luck to get stuck with me. I was wondering the same thing, myself.

Rather than saying anything, I turned my attention to the outpost. Like the previous one, a catwalk provided access to the ground. And, just like the previous one, there was another hostile lurking nearby. A krogan, as it turned out.

This time, we detected him before he started charging at us. Heck, he didn't even know we were there until I fired a sniper round at his head.

To my surprise, the krogan fell to his knees, but he didn't go down for the count. If my sensors were functioning properly, and they usually were when giving me bad news, he was actually regenerating. Fast. Thankfully, my sniper rifle cooled down before his regeneration was complete, and the second shot put him down permanently.

We took a minute to consult the maps again at the top of the outpost. In retrospect, that may have been a misnomer—unlike the previous outpost, this one wasn't a standalone platform. Instead, it connected to a series of walkways and platforms that meandered back and forth before reaching the facility itself.

"This is the refuelling tower that Kirrahe's intel found," Garrus said, pointing a talon at a platform situated a kilometre from our current location. "Looks like it connects to the main walkway leading to the facility here," he added, pointing at another section of the map.

I nodded absently, more focused on scanning the rest of the map. "Check this out," I said, pointing to a short dead-end that forked off one of the walkways. "If I'm reading this right, this dead-end is a perch that overlooks the rear entrances to the facility. You'd get plenty of cover, while still having a clear line-of-sight to any guards."

"Yeah, but we'd need to clear the other sections first to make sure we don't have geth or krogan crawling up our backsides," Ashley frowned.

"Team One will go take out the refuelling towers, and deal with any opposition along the way, then circle round to the main walkway," I decided. "Garrus, clear the rest of the area, then bunker up at that perch. When everyone's in position, we'll hit them from both sides. Sniper rifles first, with additional firepower and support as needed."

I felt quite pleased with myself. Hopefully, Wrex, Tali and I could take out our target, then spend a nice and peaceful time waiting for Team Two to complete their objectives.

Of course, things didn't go according to plan.

We'd barely taken ten steps before we saw two destroyers up ahead. As my sniper rifle was still in my hot little hands, I fired it at the lead destroyer. My shot took out its shields and did a heck of a lot of damage, but not enough to bring it down, apparently. It could've fired back, but apparently it wanted to get a bit closer first. Fine by me: gave me enough time to let off another shot. After that one went down, I turned my attention to the second destroyer. Thankfully, Wrex and Tali had spent the time filling it with holes, so it didn't take long before it joined its partner.

After that, our little jaunt to the refuelling station was remarkably uneventful. I found myself getting increasingly anxious, _despite _the general tranquility. Nothing dampens any enjoyment one might get from warm tropical breezes, sunny skies and lush landscapes quite like the thought of certain ambush and possible death around the next corner. As it turned enough, we did get a brush with possible death around the next corner.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We hadn't been hearing from Kirrahe or Kaidan for a while. Didn't really think about it at the time, focused as I was on my keeping my head firmly attached to my shoulders. So one might forgive me for almost jumping when I heard Kirrahe's voice over the comm channel: "Aircraft heading to perimeter stations to recharge. Bunker up before they come back!"

A minute later, we started to round another corner. We could glimpse part of a large fuel tank and a bunch of geth drones hovering over it.

"Looks like it's refuelling," Wrex observed.

"Let's take it out before it can go back and harass the other teams," Tali recommended.

"Too late," Wrex barked. "We got incoming!"

Three of the drones had noticed us and were starting to swoop our way. Naturally, one of them was packing a rocket launcher, which it fired our way.

Diving to the ground, I cursed my bad luck. Ducking rockets and other incoming fire while trying to shoot ridiculously agile targets out of the sky is not my idea of fun. I found myself wondering why they couldn't be nice and docile, sitting still like that fuel tank that was right in front of me...

And that's when another desperate idea came to me. "Team One, cover me," I ordered, whipping out my sniper rifle.

I found myself in a situation that was simultaneously ideal and disastrous for sniping. On the one hand, lying prone is just about the best way to centre your rifle without it swaying all over the place. Also, it's refreshingly easy to take out a shuttle-sized fuel tank within ninety metres of your position when you're used to sniping at head-sized targets hundreds of metres away. On the other hand, I've never sniped under fire. Not before this mission, anyways.

Gritting my teeth, I peered through my scope. My finger was just about to pull on the trigger when I glimpsed something closing from the corner of my eye. Cursing, I yanked on the trigger and rolled out of the way. Just in time too, as a drone crashed to the ground and exploded, right where I was lying down.

That explosion seemed to echo for a while. For a second, I thought my ears were ringing.

"Nice shot," Wrex complimented me.

I turned around to look at him, a look of confusion on my face.

"You hit the tank while rolling around on the ground like a varren scratching an itch," he replied.

I turned around to see the conflagration billowing up in front of us. Apparently I managed to hit the blind side of the proverbial barn after all, taking out most of the drones in the process. The only survivor barely had any shields left, and was weaving like a marine who'd just gone on shore leave. Needless to say, we managed to take it, and the second fuel tank, out without much difficulty.

As that last drone bit the dust, we heard Kirrahe again: "Air strike has not materialized! We may be getting some help from Shadow!" Good to know our detour was worth risking my neck. And that someone actually appreciated it this time.

The trip to our designated attack point was remarkably peaceful. I guess the firefight and explosions bled most of the tension for me. Whatever the reason, my heart wasn't beating too fast when we arrived.

Crouching down, I grabbed my sniper rifle and peered through the scope. Not much resistance: two krogan and two geth snipers. Either they were confident no one would make it this far or Kirrahe's teams were doing a really good job at drawing away the opposition.

"Team Two, we are in position," I radioed.

"Likewise," Garrus reported. "Awaiting your orders, Shepard."

"Snipers, take out the geth first then switch to the krogan," I said, deciding to deal with the guys who could deal death from a distance. Or take out our shields, which amounted to the same thing. "Everyone else, target the krogan first. We go on three: one, two, three!"

The geth didn't know what hit them. The krogan were busy looking between wherever they thought the gunfire was coming from and the sight of their geth allies splayed out on the ground. It didn't take long before they met the geth's fate.

After meeting up and doing some quick scrounging, we passed through a nearby door. In front of us lay a few walkways that led to the actual facility itself. Tali quickly moved towards a security console that was stationed outside one of the doors and hacked her way in.

"We've got access to base security," she reported. "We should be able to cut the alarms from here." She tapped the console some more before adding: "Might even be able to trigger alarms on the far side of the base. It'll clear the guards out for us, but they might be too much for the salarian teams to handle."

Again, I made my decision based on the need to preserve that stupid reputation of mine: "Just disable the alarms. We can handle any guards inside."

Tali nodded and entered the appropriate commands. Then we readied our weapons and entered on my order. I was expecting some opposition, and I wasn't disappointed. What surprised me was the nature of our opposition: I was expecting geth and krogan.

As it turned out, I was half right: we found ourselves facing geth—two destroyers and two shock troopers—accompanied by six or seven salarians. Armed with nothing more than staff uniforms—and I have no idea why they were wearing that instead of barrier-equipped combat hardsuits or where Saren got them from—minimal shielding and pistols. They came at us one or two at a time, so it was easy to take them out. So easy, in fact, we concentrated on the geth first, even with salarian pistol shots pinging off our shields.

"Salarians?" Garrus murmured when the last salarian went down. "Right: the captain said he had lost some men."

"Perhaps they were indoctrinated," Liara suggested.

Ashley scratched her head. "What the hell's going on in this place?"

Shrugging, I motioned the squad to continue. For once, I did a cursory sweep for loot. Probably because it was a big room and most of the obvious spots were empty. And because our scanners were telling us there was one more hostile in our immediate vicinity. There was nothing on our level, so we headed up the stairs.

Peering around a bunch of crates that were inconveniently blocking our view, I quickly ducked back. "Juggernaut," I hissed.

That was enough to make everyone grip their weapon a little bit tighter.

"Liara, lift it up," I ordered quietly. "Garrus, take out its shields; Tali, disable its weapons; Wrex, warp its armour."

With that barrage of biotics and tech, it was pathetically easy to kill. Probably overkill, but it's nice to have the chance to set that up.

Once the juggernaut was down, we looted a nearby crate and moved through an adjoining door and started to creep over a catwalk.

"Hello?" a voice called out from below. "Is someone out there?"

"Hang on," I called back quickly. Somehow, this didn't strike me as the time or the place for a prolonged chat. "We'll be down as soon as we can." We crept the rest of the way over the catwalk and entered another room. It was guarded by two salarians who were just as easy to take down as their partners. Then we looked around. Two crates to loot. And two doors to go through, one on either side of an elevator. So many choices. In the end, I picked the right door. It led us outside, down some stairs, and into an underground room lined with cells. Above us was the catwalk we just crept over.

Many of the salarians were just... standing there. Drooling. Or babbling nonsense. Stuff about how "It never sleeps" and "It calls, and I must follow." One of them, though, followed our movements with a clear look of intelligence and sanity in his eyes.

"Well you're not a geth," he said dryly. "And you're not wearing a lab coat. I guess I'm glad to see you."

"Commander Shepard, Spectre," I quickly introduced myself. I refrained from introducing the others. Partly to give myself sometime in the limelight; partly because we couldn't really spare the time for extended introductions.

"Lietuenant Ganto Imness of the Third Infiltration Regiment, captured during recon. I assume the fleet was called in to destroy the base?"

I shook my head. "The transmission wasn't clear, so they sent us to investigate. The fleet's not coming."

Lt. Imness was as professional as his captain, absorbing this bad news without a flurry of panic. "I see," he said simply. "Then you must be the infiltration team. I know my captain: he will want this facility destroyed."

"Because of the indoctrination," I surmised.

"Exactly," Imness nodded. "The captain knew about the breeding grounds. But the indoctrination is a greater threat, and far more horrifying." He shuddered before continuing. "I saw good people reduced to mindless husks. There wasn't anything left. Others died during the experiments. I envy them."

"So they were running experiments on indoctrination?" I asked. "What were they looking for, exactly?"

"Symptoms, progress, that sort of thing," Imness replied. "Their leader, Saren, uses it to control his people, but he doesn't fully understand it. At least, I don't think he does. I don't know much else. I just saw what it did to the others. Turned them into empty husks."

He started looking agitated. Can't blame him, I guess. "They haven't gotten to me yet. 'Not my turn,' they said. I can't end up like that. Please—let me out!"

"I'm letting you out," I said after a minute's thought, "but then you're on your own." I know it was a risk. For all I knew, this guy was indoctrinated as well, just not as far as the others. But he did provide a fair bit of intel, and he _seemed _sane. All the same, I made a mental note to inform Kirrahe that he might want to keep a close eye on him. Just in case.

For the first time, Imness smiled. "Don't look back and hope to outrun the blast, hmm? A better chance than I had before you showed up." As we walked out, he called back over his shoulder: "Thank you, Commander. And good luck. You'll need it."

Before we left, I took another look at the other salarians.

"No threat here, Commander," Garrus said professionally. "Are they even aware of us?" he added, on a more personal note.

"What drove Saren to do this?" Liara whispered. "It is cruel beyond measure."

"Open the doors," I decided. "Give them a chance to outrun the blast."

"You sure, Commander?" Tali asked. "They might hurt themselves."

"Or us," Ashley muttered darkly.

"We can't do anything if they harm themselves, and I doubt they're any real threat to us. Let them out," I repeated.

With a sigh, Wrex reached over and keyed the door controls. The salarians didn't respond at all. They just stood there, staring and babbling. We turned and left the room, and its insane inhabitants, behind.

* * *

After returning to the room with the doors and the elevator, we took the left door. It led us up some stairs and into another room of cells, each holding a salarian. I started tapping on cells, trying to get a response. The salarian in the first cell just mumbled some gibberish. The second was more responsive, to say the least.

"What do you want?" he asked quickly. "I told you everything! I—Who are you? Alliance, right? I knew someone would come. It tried to break me, but it couldn't! I shut it out!"

"Slow down," I told him. Even for a salarian, this guy was talking a mile a minute. "Let's start with who you are and where you came from."

The salarian stood to attention. "Private Menos Avot of the Third Infiltration STG, sir! Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, sir! Never any questions from these bastards," he muttered. "Just whispers and poking and cutting. I'd have said anything to get out and get some payback. That's not much to ask, is it? A little payback?"

"What did they do to you, soldier?" I asked, channelling a little drill sergeant into my voice. This non-com was either severely traumatized or seriously loopy. I couldn't tell which, but I hoped that a lil military discipline would snap him out of it.

"Experiments, but I don't know what for. The effect of incessant whispering on my shortening temper? Who knows? I just need out," the private babbled.

"Something's not right here, Commander," Garrus warned me.

No kidding. "Agreed, but if we don't let him out, he's as good as dead." Plus, I hate leaving loose ends behind. "We have to do something."

"Yes, leaving me here would be bad," Avot added, still yammering away at a rapid-fire pace. "Very bad. It's too small and the noise just won't go away. Whispering is loud, you know? I need to get out. Let me out."

Okay, my paranoid streak was definitely freaking out at this point. But there was only one way to be sure. Besides, there were only three salarians versus the seven of us.

"Fine, we'll set you free. But you have to follow my orders. Understood?"

"Yes sir," he babbled as we unlocked the cell doors. "You'll find that I am very good at following orders. I should be. I hear them over and over. Why are they repeated when they are so simple?"

I motioned for everyone to pull out their weapons. This was it, I sensed.

"So damn simple!" Avot yelled before pulling out a pistol of his own.

We mowed them down before they could let off a shot. Not exactly a fair fight, but at least my reputation for doing my damndest to help others remained untarnished. And they wouldn't be nipping at our heels at potentially inconvenient moments, which was the main goal as far as I was concerned. **(1) **

Moving on, we found a set of stairs on the side that led down to another level. We killed the five indoctrinated salarians that were guarding it—how many salarians were in this STG anyways?—and searched the rooms. We found about four or five crates, each one loaded with goodies.

It was like Christmas or something.

After looting all the crates, we went back to that first room and entered the elevator. It took us to a large lab filled with beds, diagnostic equipment, computers, strange machinery that was housing husks, an asari in a lab coat...

...and a krogan in a lab coat that seemed to be made out of a burlap sack.

Just when I thought I'd seen everything.

The asari looked up and saw us. "Intruders!" she yelled. "Get the guards!" She probably would've said more, had I not put a bullet through her eye.

The krogan turned around. "What's going on here?" he growled. "Where are the guards? Where's Saren?"

Not waiting for an answer, he stabbed a button on his omni-tool. The things holding the husks—stasis cells of some sort, I'd later find out—shut down and the husks started to stir.

"Weapons free," I barked, setting an example by firing off a couple rounds into the nearest husk.

"No!" the krogan scientist yelled as we shot down husk after husk. "Stay back! This is important work! This is the glorious salvation of my species!"

We knew this damn well, Wrex especially. Probably why he biotically slammed the doc against a nearby wall and blew his brains out with his shotgun, all with a bitter look on his face.

"Clear," Garrus called out after a moment.

"Clear." That was Ashley.

While most of us cased the room for loot, I had Tali go through the computers. See what they were doing. Unfortunately, all it held was statistics. This many krogan came out following this procedure, this many came out with that procedure and so on. What little information there was suggested it was more of a mass-cloning procedure than an actual cure.

This made Wrex even more peeved, if that was even possible. So no one objected when I put him on point. He led us out of the lab and the facility, along a catwalk that led to another door a hundred metres away. There were three geth troopers guarding it, who opened fire as soon as we came in range. In response, Wrex charged them; shooting one in the head, stomping another into a crumpled heap, and shoving the third over the rail.

I decided to wait a minute, just to let Wrex calm down a bit. Once it looked like he wouldn't go berserk at the drop of a hat, we went through the door into an office of some sort. Standard configuration, really. Large windows with an amazing view. Encrypted container in the corner. Asari cowering under the desk. That sort of thing.

"Don't shoot!" the asari cried out, slowly getting to her feet. "Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late."

"I'm not going to hurt you," I soothed. Yet. "Who are you?"

"Dr. Rana Thanoptis, neurospecialist for this facility. Or I was, anyways. This job isn't worth dying over. Or worse."

"You're talking about indoctrination," I surmised. "We saw what it's done to the prisoners."

"You think indoctrination _only _affects prisoners," Rana sniffed. "Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain, too!"

"Yeah, about that," I scratched my head. "I thought this was supposed to be a breeding facility. But all we've been seeing are indoctrinated salarians."

"That's because this level studies Sovereign's effect on organic minds," Thanoptis explained. "At least, that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible."

"You helped him and you don't even know why?" Ashley asked incredulously.

"I didn't have the option of negotiating," Thanoptis said defensively. "This position is a little more... permanent than I'd expected. But I can help you," she added, possibly sensing that she wasn't getting a lot of sympathy from us and hoping to bribe us into sparing her life. "This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in."

To demonstrate, she walked over to a door at the end of the room and unlocked it. "See? Full access. All of Saren's private files. Are we good? Can I go?"

"One moment," I said, raising a hand. "What exactly was Saren studying here?"

"Sovereign emits some kind of... signal. It's undetectable, but it's definitely there. I've seen the effects. Saren uses it to influence his followers, to control them. Direct exposure to the signal turns you into a mindless slave, like the salarian test subjects. But there's collateral damage, too."

"Define 'collateral damage,'" I said.

"Sovereign's signal is too strong. Spend too much time near the ship and you feel it. Like a tingle at the back of the skull. It's like a whisper you can't quite hear. You're compelled to do things but you don't know why. You just obey. Eventually, you just stop thinking for yourself. It happens to everyone at the facility. My first test subject was the man I replaced. Now I just want to get out of here before it happens to me."

"Tell me more about this signal," I urged.

"The signal..." Thanoptis started before pausing. "'Signal' isn't really the right word, come to think of it. It's more like some sort of energy field emanating from the ship. It changes thought patterns. Over time—days, maybe a week—it weakens your will. You become easier to manipulate and control. But it's a degenerative condition. There's a balance between control and usefulness. The less freedom a subject maintains, the less capable it becomes."

"Why is Saren researching this?" I asked. "Isn't he the one controlling Sovereign?"

Thanoptis pursed her lips. "The signal or field comes from Sovereign and makes us obey Saren, but I don't think he controls it. Not exactly. I think... he's scared it might be affecting him. Indoctrination is subtle. By the time the effects become noticeable, it's usually too late."

"I see." I paused a minute to let the suspense build, then let the bombshell drop. "Thanks for your help. You're free to go.

As she started to leave, I added "By the way, I'm going to blow this place to hell and back. If you want to make it out alive, you might wanna start running."

I think Thanoptis came this close to a heart attack, judging by the panicked look that came over her face. "What?" she stammered. "You can't... but I'll never... ahh!"

She broke off her incoherent reply to run from the room.

Ashley took a deep breath and smiled. "I enjoyed that," she admitted.

* * *

The door that Thanoptis unlocked led outside (again), along a catwalk (again) to a door (again) which housed an elevator (again). I was starting to detect a theme with the architecture of this facility. Anyways, the elevator led us to a large split-level chamber. The upper level boasted a set of large windows and a ramp that extended out, almost to the other end of the chamber, with a console at the end. On either side of the chamber, a catwalk sloped down to the lower level.

"Commander, look down there," Ashley pointed. "It's another beacon. Like the one on Eden Prime."

I led the squad down to look at the beacon. She was right. Situated in the middle, flush against the wall, it was a dead ringer for the doodad that sparked all this grief.

"It appears intact," Liara marvelled. "Perhaps this can help provide some more information."

Stifling a groan, I motioned for the rest of the squad to step back. I stood forward and braced myself for another round of fun. Sure enough, I felt myself lift off the floor, and got... lots of flashes. It looked like bits and pieces of the original vision. Glimpses of Protheans in agony, dying, at the hands of...

...something.

On the bright side, I didn't faint this time. Didn't even have a headache.

I turned around to reassure the squad that I was okay, only to see them staring upwards. Following their gaze, I saw an enormous red hologram overhead. It was situated right in front of the ramp on the upper level, so that's where we headed.

"This is not good," Garrus said uneasily as we approached.

"You are not Saren," the hologram spoke. Its voice was like a whisper, while simultaneously possessing a deep timbre that vibrated through our bones. It was cold and metallic, yet oddly musical.

It scared the shit out of me. Got my paranoid streak up and running too.

"What is that?" Liara asked. "Some kind of VI interface?"

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding."

Tali shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think this is a VI."

"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

That was when it hit me. The information from the beacons and the Cipher finally spat out the name for the... thing at the end of my vision. The name for the thing that we saw lift off from Eden Prime.

The name for the thing that was hovering right in front of us.

Reaper.

"Sovereign isn't just some ship Saren found," I whispered.

"It's an actual Reaper."

None of my squad responded. Instead, they just stood there. Frozen. Some even had their jaws wide open. Can't blame them: IDing Sovereign as one of the Big Bads that wiped out the Protheans would scare the bejesus out of anyone. **(2) **

Sovereign reacted to that designation indifferently. "Reaper. A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are."

"The Protheans vanished 50 000 years ago," Liara objected. "You could not have been there. It's impossible!"

"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation," Sovereign stated, "an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."

"Maybe you don't realize this," I said, trying to be defiant, "but there's an entire galaxy of races united and ready to face you." Okay, they weren't united, and they sure as hell weren't ready. But if Sovereign didn't know that already, I wasn't going to burst the bubble.

"Confidence born of ignorance," Sovereign dismissed. "The cycle cannot be broken."

"Cycle?" Garrus asked. "What cycle?"

"The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished."

"Wait a moment," I interrupted. "You're talking about civilizations that arose _before _the Protheans?"

"The Protheans were not the first," Sovereign confirmed. "They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my kind."

"So you built the mass relays? And then, what, just left them behind for someone else to find? Why?"

"Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays. _Our _technology. By using it, your society, develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it." **(3) **

"They are harvesting us!" Tali realized. "Letting us advance to the level they need, then wiping us out!"

"What do you want from us?" I asked. "Slaves? Resources?"

"My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence."

Not willing to take its word for it, I tried to do some more probing. "Where did you come from? Who built you?"

Instead of answering, Sovereign settled for more riddles, grandstanding and belittling remarks: "We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure."

"Where are the rest of the Reapers? Are they off taking a nap, or are you the last of your kind?"

"We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom."

Throughout this entire conversation, Sovereign had maintained an air of cold, absolute confidence. Probably why it kept insisting that the end is nigh, and all that. Clearly, I wouldn't be getting anything useful from it. "You're not even alive," I declared defiantly. "Not really. You're just a machine. And machines can be broken."

"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."

With that, the windows behind us shattered. We ducked to avoid the glass shards that were flying everywhere. When I looked up, Sovereign's hologram was gone.

What a drama queen.

* * *

"Commander," Joker came in over the comm. "We've got trouble."

Of course we did. "Lay it on me, Joker," I sighed. "I love bad news."

"That ship, Sovereign? We just picked it up, and boy is it _moving_. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. It's coming your way, and it's coming hard! You need to wrap up whatever you're doing—fast!"

While I'd been talking to Joker, Tali had been tapping at the console. Shaking her head, she gave up and turned to me. "This console's been disabled. Orders, Commander?"

"Let's head to the breeding facility. Joker can pick us up after we've set the nuke."

Having given that order, I led the squad out the door, down the elevator and out the door. A destroyer was there to greet us.

I immediately kneeled down and grabbed my sniper rifle. Through my peripheral vision, I glimpsed Garrus and Ashley doing the same. "Everyone know their job," I called out. Receiving affirmatives from everyone, I continued: "Snipers on three; everyone else on two.

"One." Garrus, Ashley and I focused our scopes.

"Two." Tali knocked out its shields while Liara and Wrex attacked it with their biotics.

"Three." Three sniper shots rang out. The destroyer went down like a rock.

As we moved through Dr. Thanoptis's office, we heard Kirrahe talking to his teams: "The geth are turning from your position, Jaeto. Looks like Shadow kicked a sensitive spot! Alenko, head them off! Hold them out here!"

We exited the office in time to see a bridge lower into place. Conveniently, it provided access to the complex of buildings that led to the AA guns we were trying to disable. Inconveniently, it also allowed a trio of krogan to start creeping our way.

"Same drill, Commander," Garrus asked, kneeling down.

"You know it," I confirmed. Ashley joined me while the others prepared to unleash biotic and tech hell on our adversaries. About five minutes later, the path was clear for us to head through another room into another outdoor path. This time, it led directly to the AA gun (and its controls).

Ashley whistled when she saw it. "That turret could _definitely _punch a hole in the Normandy."

I nodded absently, more interested in the immediate terrain. The path we were on hugged its way around a tall cylindrical building—presumably the one we just went through—towards the AA gun. There were some stairs on the right that led down to a ledge, which also wrapped around the building.

"Garrus; take Team Two and go down to the ledge," I ordered. "Team One will stay up here." That would force the guards to split their fire. I was also hoping that Team Two would be able to see and take out any targets before I blundered blindly in.

Sure enough, Garrus contacted me over the comm a minute later: "Shepard, we see rocket drones! Th—damnit!" He was interrupted as a volley of rockets flew by. "Three drones! Plus some hoppers and a krogan!"

"We can't see the drones," I reported back, simultaneously using my HUD to select the hoppers for my team. The krogan weren't a priority target yet, given how far away they were. The hoppers though, with their ECM jamming and shield disabling capabilities, were the greater threat. "Concentrate on them, Team Two. We'll take out the rest."

On a hunch, I took out my sniper rifle. The hoppers seemed to be moving around based on a predetermined route, so if I lined up on a particular spot and waited long enough...

...YEP! Scratch one hopper!

"Scoped and dropped!" I heard Garrus cheer over the comm. I wasn't sure whether he was talking about my shot or whether he took out a drone with his sniper rifle. Didn't matter, I suppose. Still plenty of targets.

Then I saw some rockets fly by, accompanied by Garrus yelling "Ashley, get down!"

"Team Two, report," I said, trying to repeat my success with the second hopper. No luck so far.

"Ashley took a glancing hit from a rocket," Garrus said. "Shields down, hardsuit at 50% or so. Otherwise, she's fine."

"I'm fine, Shepard," Ashley broke in. "Just got sloppy. Won't happen again."

"Plenty of targets, people," I warned. Pausing, I fired another shot with my sniper rifle. Missed again. "No need to go looking." I gave up and switched to the krogan, leaving the hopper to Wrex and Tali.

As it turned out, we took out our targets around the same time. "Team Two, we are clear," I radioed, scanning ahead with my sniper rifle's scope. "How 'bout you?"

"Clear," Garrus reported back. "Go ahead and advance. We'll cover you."

I led Team One around the corner and up a set of stairs to a small foyer. There was a large generator spinning around, next to a console. An elevator sat on the other end. And a few crates. I quickly looted the latter before turning my attention to the console. After looking it over, I opened the comm again. "Team Two, I've found the turret controls. Recommend you come up here and establish firing positions."

"Roger," Garrus reported. A second later, we saw his team moving forward. They stopped about halfway up the stairs, to my approval. That would establish an excellent field of view to take out anyone following behind us and quickly move to back us up should things go south. While the area near the elevator provided a better vantage point, it was extremely vulnerable to an attack from anyone stepping out of the elevator. Under the circumstances, it was probably the best compromise.

"Shutting down the turrets," I warned before tapping the controls. We heard a whine as the generator shut down.

"Geth approaching," Liara warned. She was on the left-hand side of the stairs, and had the best vantage point. "They must have followed us."

"Team Two, open fire," Garrus ordered, grabbing his assault rifle. I was about to order Team One to do the same when I took a look at my HUD. There were two groups of signals: one in the direction Team Two was firing, one in the general direction of the elevator.

"Team One, looks like we have hostiles coming down the elevator," I said, grabbing my pistol. "Let's give them a warm welcome."

Sure enough, the elevator doors popped open, to reveal half a dozen shock troopers. While they outnumbered our team two to one, we fired first. By the time they lifted their weapons, two of them were already down. Wrex reached out and knocked them over with a burst of biotics while Tali tossed a tech mine to knock out their shields, which made things even easier.

"Clear," I called out. Once Garrus confirmed, I opened the comm to contact Kirrahe. "This is Shadow team. AA guns are down," I reported.

"Good work on the gun, Shadow team," Kirrahe responded. "Now it's our turn."

I waited a moment, but Kirrahe didn't have anything more to say, so we headed up the elevator.

When we popped out, the first thing I saw was a nearby aid station. Probably with a pack or two of medi-gel. We had all the medi-gel we needed, and we couldn't carry any more, but it was worth noting nonetheless. Just in case. Since we didn't need it though, we headed for the exit.

"That's it," Kirrahe said as we exited onto the roof. "We need to clear the geth and set those charges." Looking around, I saw we were in some kind of artificial canyon-like structure. On either side lay a rack of large machinery, with a stream of water down the middle and a large gate at the end.

And a pair of stalkers. Hopping around, trying to zap our shields. We shot them to bits and moved on.

Just as we got to the gate, we heard Kirrahe again: "Charges set! Everybody bunker down. Bunker down!"

I motioned for everybody to be alert before opening the gates. We moved in, sweeping the area. Lots of fuel tanks. A big exhaust pipe connected to an enormous power core of some sort. No geth, krogan or wacky salarians.

"Joker, this is Shadow team," I reported. "Insertion site is clear for the package. Repeat: insertion site is clear."

"All right!" Joker crowed. "Nice work, Commander. That's one less thing to worry about."

He had a point. Now all we had to do was set the bomb and get out before we got vaporized.

"Commander, I'm bringing us in," he continued. "I'll get as close to the site as I can."

* * *

As it turned out 'as close to the site' turned out to be 'right on top'. We saw the Normandy swoop in and gently touch down on the roof. It was pretty tight: a couple metres to either side, and the Normandy would be scraping paint off the fuselage. A testament to Joker's piloting skills, I guess.

Ashley went aboard as soon as the Normandy landed. After a couple minutes, she emerged from the hangar bay with a couple non-coms, lugging the drive-core-turned-bomb. **(4)** It was very small, much to my surprise. Looked like a mushroom, albeit one the size of an overstuffed chair. Ashley and the non-coms lugged it over to the designated point and gently lowered it to the ground.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief once that was done. Kirrahe said the core was really robust, but none of us could shake that nagging feeling. Ashley walked over to me to report.

"Bomb is in position," she started. "We just need to—"

"Commander," Kaidan interrupted. "Can you read me?"

"The nuke is almost ready," I replied. "Get to the rendezvous point, Lieutenant."

"Negative, Commander. The geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties." He paused a moment before continuing: "We'll never make the rendezvous point in time."

"Hold tight," I said. "We're coming to get you."

Kaidan's response was immediate. "Negative! Just make sure that nuke is set. We'll hold them off as long as we can!"

"It's okay, Commander," Ashley reassured me immediately. "I need a couple minutes to finish arming the nuke. Go get them and meet me back here."

I gave her a quick nod before turning to the rest of the squad. "Up to the AA tower," I ordered. "Move!"

* * *

As the Normandy lifted off to pick up Kaidan and the salarians, the squad headed off. There was a brief moment of confusion when we went the wrong way. Turned out that, to get to the other AA tower, we had to head through the _other _weird gate/canyon structure. When we opened the gates, we found a welcoming party. Mixture of geth ghosts and krogan.

"Team One, tackle the krogan; Team Two has the geth," I quickly decided. Way I figured it, my team could use its greater combat capacity to deal with the krogan. Meanwhile, Liara's biotics and Garrus's tech skills should allow them to disable the geth before backing us up. "Weapons free!"

For once, everything went according to plan. The geth went down, followed shortly after by the krogan. Then we raced across to the elevator on the far side and took it up to the connecting overpass between the AA towers. I made a brief stop to loot some weapons and a hardsuit from a nearby crate before moving on.

That's when things went to hell.

The first sign was when we saw a geth dropship swoop overhead.

"Damn," Wrex swore. "Geth are sending in reinforcements."

We braced ourselves, expecting it to start raining geth. Instead it went right past us...

...straight for the bomb site.

Aw, crap.

"Chief," Kaidan called out over the comm. "We just spotted a dropship inbound to your location."

"It's already here," Ashley yelled back. I could hear gunfire in the background, the implications of which were confirmed when she added: "And it's bleeding geth all over the bomb site."

"Can you hold them off?" I asked.

To my alarm, Ashley responded immediately, with a tone of panic in her voice: "There's too many! I don't think we can hold them." There was a pause before she said four fateful words.

"I'm activating the nuke."

"What are you doing, Chief?" I said sharply.

"Making sure this bomb goes off, no matter what," Ashley replied simply. She paused another moment before continuing. "It's done, Commander. Go get the lieutenant and get the hell out of here."

Kaidan must have been listening in on the conversation, because he immediately broke in. "Belay that. We can handle ourselves. Go back and get Williams."

Aw, crap.

Between the packs of geth at both points, and the nuke already activated and ticking away, there was no way we could rescue one group, pick them up in the Normandy, rinse and repeat at the other site and get out.

So what the hell was I supposed to do?

* * *

_(1): Tactically, it might be more sound to leave the salarians where they were. The fact that Shepard rationalizes an explanation for his actions, knowing full well how risky it is, speaks volumes about his true character._

_(2): An obscure term from late twentieth century and early twenty-first century popular culture, used to describe a great adversary or nemesis__._

_(3): This explanation does much to explain why technologies like the mass relays and the Citadel were so readily available to help civilizations. Far from "discovering new technologies" to revolutionize societies, they were actually a trap designed to lure in civilizations like the Protheans._

_(4): Non-commissioned officer._


	26. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

I hate these catch-22 situations. I've worked hard to _avoid _them, even more than I've tried to avoid situations that put my ass on the firing line. And I've done a hell of a lot better with the former.

Until now.

Given what Kirrahe said, even if the geth did manage to secure the bomb, it was unlikely that they could disarm it before it went off. So that left rescuing three non-coms versus an officer, maybe two if Kirrahe was still alive, and who knows how many other soldiers.

So it came down to getting the most soldiers and officers out alive. Small comfort. **(1) **

"Alenko, radio Joker and tell him to meet us on the AA tower."

"Yes, Commander," Kaidan replied reluctantly. "I..."

Ashley must have heard the tone in Kaidan's voice too, because she interrupted him before he could continue: "You know it's the right choice, L.T."

"Stay alive," I said. "I'll be coming back to get you too, Ash."

I didn't buy that for a second, and neither did Ashley. "I think we both know that's not going to happen, Commander."

"Yeah," I admitted. "But I had to try. Give them hell, Ash."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

Those were the last words I ever heard her say. 

* * *

Having made that fateful decision, I raced towards the door that would lead us to Kaidan and the salarians, the squad close on my heels. We rammed through, where I saw a locked crate. Given the circumstances, I didn't have time to hack it.

So I just squeezed omni-gel into it until it popped open, swiped whatever was in there and ran for the elevator.

It took us up to the second AA tower. It was a round oval structure, like a small version of a football field. Instead of bleachers, though, a large, partially constructed roof arched overhead. In front of us lay a few stacks of large crates. A couple fuel tanks scattered here and there.

And geth. Lots of geth. Destroyers and shock troopers, to be exact.

We could see some salarians in the distance, with Kaidan huddled up with them. Seeing our arrival, he opened a comm channel. "Commander, you need to move fast. We can't hold these things off much longer—Watch the corners! Suppressive fire!"

He quickly broke off to fire behind him. Clearly he was getting flanked. Time for us to move.

"Everyone with me," I ordered. "Team Two on support, Team One on firing duty. Move!"

We managed to take down a few shock troopers before they noticed us and sent a pair of destroyers to charge us. Cursing, I switched targets to try and whittle down their shields before they started to pound us. Thankfully, Wrex was on the ball and sent them flying into the air. I didn't even have time to thank him. Instead, I aimed my pistol at a severely damaged destroyer and killed it before its shields could regenerate.

Liara summoned a singularity right in the middle of the largest cluster of geth, drawing them in to helplessly spin around, bouncing off each other and the odd crate that also got sucked along. That bought us time to take out a pack of shock troopers, then turn to riddle a destroyer full of holes.

I turned around to fire at the next geth. But they were all destroyed. Even the ones caught in Liara's singularity.

So why was my paranoid streak screaming?

Maybe it had something to do with that whirring noise that was getting louder and louder, and heading right for me.

I turned around. Nothing.

Then I looked up.

A small circular platform swooped into sight. On top of it stood a turian, blue energy crackling all around him.

Saren.

He pointed at us, and a blue bolt of biotics sizzled towards us. Thankfully, he misjudged the distance, and his attack overshot us. He sent another blast, which also missed. Probably because we were all scattering for cover by that point. He jumped down about ten metres or so, landing in a crouch. He stood up and strode forward, then stopped, seeing how he couldn't get a good shot at any of us. Behind him, the platform slowly descended until it was hovering at shoulder height.

I leaned out and fired off a couple shots, which ricocheted off his shields.

So much for that plan. Now what?

"This has been an impressive diversion, Shepard," Saren said. "My geth were utterly convinced the salarians were the real threat."

Apparently, we were going to talk.

"Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

"Here's a thought: help me understand," I replied. "Why are you doing this?"

"You've seen the vision from the beacons, haven't you?" After I nodded, Saren continued. "Then you, of all people, should understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped. It is senseless to mire yourself in pointless revolt. To sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were utterly destroyed.

"Trillions dead. But what if they had bowed down before the invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?" **(2)**

"Do you really believe the Reapers will let us live?" I asked sceptically.

"Yes," Saren replied. "For the same reason why I never came forward with this to the Council: logic. We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic. We will fight even when we know we cannot win. But if we work with the Reapers—if we make ourselves useful—think of how many lives could be spared!

"Once I understood this, I joined Sovereign, though I was aware of the... dangers. I had hoped this facility could protect me."

"You're afraid Sovereign is influencing you," I realized. "You're afraid he's controlling your thoughts. Your actions."

"I've studied the effects of indoctrination," he admitted. "The more control Sovereign exerts, the less capable the subject becomes. That is my saving grace. Sovereign needs me to find the Conduit. My mind is still my own... for now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me." 

"Tell me something," I said, since Saren was feeling so chatty. "Why are the geth following Sovereign?"

"They believe Sovereign to be some kind of god. The pinnacle of their own evolution. But the reaction of their deity is most telling: it is insulted. Sovereign does not desire the pitiful devotions the geth hurl at it. They are just tools, and no amount of belief on their part will change that. But as tools, they are useful. They will survive the coming invasion. If organic life is to survive, we must also prove we are useful. We must work with the Reapers."

"Tell me whySovereign needs the Conduit," I urged. "Tell me what it is. Maybe we can find a way to stop them."

"The Conduit is the key to your destruction and my salvation," he answered cryptically. "Sovereign needs my help to find it. That is the only reason I have not been indoctrinated."

"Don't you see," I called out. "Sovereign's manipulating you and you don't even know it! You're _already_ under its power!"

"No!" Saren shook his head frantically. "Sovereign needs me. If I find the Conduit, I've been promised a reprieve from the inevitable. This is my only hope."

"Listen to yourself," I challenged. "Without your help, Sovereign won't find the Conduit. Together, we can stop it. We don't have to submit to the Reapers. We can beat them!"

"I no longer believe that, Shepard," Saren said. He sounded almost... sad. "The visions cannot be denied. The Reapers are too powerful. The only hope of survival is to join with them. Sovereign is a machine. It thinks like a machine, making decision based on logic and the optimum use of resources. If I can prove my value, I become a resource worth maintaining. There is no other logical conclusion!"

"Oh for crying out loud! You're not a resource! Or you weren't," I snapped back. "You were a Spectre. You were sworn to defend the galaxy. To be its first and last line of defence. Then you broke that vow to save yourself!"

"I'm not doing this for myself." Saren sounded stunned and confused. "Don't you see? Sovereign will succeed. It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive. I'm forging an alliance between us and the Reapers. Between organics and machines. And in doing so, I will save more lives than have ever existed.

"But you would undo my work," he concluded on a note of finality. "You would doom our entire civilization to complete annihilation. And for that, you must die."

"Kaidan, Tali, Liara on support," I immediately ordered. "Everyone else, open fire!"

The next few minutes were frustrating, to say the least. Saren had gotten back on his platform and was flying around with all the manoeuvrability of a drone. Unlike most drones, though, he had an annoyingly robust shield package. And his platform's rockets were painfully effective, as our shields could attest.

"Garrus, look out!" I snapped, as Saren dropped a rocket right where his team was situated. "You all right?"

"Fine. Just have to boost the shields," he called back. "You?"

I ducked reflexively as another rocket exploded nearby. "Just peachy," I replied, firing back. Managed to land a couple shots before he disappeared behind a stack of crates. And when he emerged, it was with a rocket screaming my way, prompting me to hastily duck for cover.

We kept shooting and ducking and shooting for what seems like ages. After a while, it occurred to me that Saren's shields had finally been depleted. And we'd actually been chipping away at his hardsuit for... well, long enough to make a noticeable dent.

It also occurred to me that he was getting awfully close to one of the fuel tanks.

"Cover me," I yelled before lunging out of cover. I took careful aim at what looked like the thinnest section.

"Shepard," I heard someone call out, just as I fired my pistol at the fuel tank. I wondered what that person wanted to tell me.

Then I realized that the fuel tank I was firing at, the one Saren was hovering over, was the one closest to my position.

Aw, crap.

With a thunderous boom, the fuel tank exploded. Flames and plumes of billowing smoke flowed outwards, encompassing Saren and his little toy. Miraculously, they didn't touch me.

The shockwave did, however. It picked me up, only to knock me down and send me bouncing along the roof. If I didn't black out for a second, I certainly experienced some blurry vision. There was this ringing noise as well. Took me a while to figure out that was my ears.

With a grunt, I looked around. Everyone else was either knocked down or checking on people who were knocked down. Despite my temporary lapse of situational awareness, it looked like we were okay.

Then Saren came out of the smoke, a bit shaken, but unharmed. He was holding an assault rifle, but he tossed it aside as he strode towards me.

It occurred to me that I should really stop thinking like that.

I lifted my hand, only to discover that my pistol was no longer in it. Searching around, I saw it on the ground a couple metres away. Must've been knocked out of my hand when I fell. By the time I thought of pulling another weapon out, Saren was close enough to engage me hand-to-hand.

Aw, crap.

I've never enjoyed getting caught up in hand-to-hand combat, partly because it's coarse and vulgar and beneath my dignity, but mostly because I've never been that good at it. I'd much rather shoot them, or snipe them, or be somewhere else entirely.

Before I could throw a punch or kick or something, Saren grabbed me by the collar of my hardsuit. Next thing I knew, he was dragging me to the edge of the roof. He lifted me up, at which point three thoughts ran through my head.

One: he was really strong. Like, cybernetic augmentation strong.

Two: if he let go, it was going to be a long, long way down.

Three: Saren had really creepy eyes.

I heard the ringing noise again. At first, I thought it was my ears. Then I realized it was more of an alarm than a ring. A second later, I realized it must have been the alarm from the nuke, warning that we had two minutes before detonation.

Saren jerked his head towards the alarm briefly. Then he turned his attention back to me.

Just in time for his ugly face to meet my fist.

I may not be much of a fighter, but I'm a sneaky bastard. Especially when I'm desperate.

He stumbled back and then dropped me. Thankfully in that order, as I fell onto the edge of the roof. Scrambling to my feet, I dove for my pistol. By the time I grabbed it and whirled around, though, he was already on his platform and lifting off.

His eyes met mine as he flew away, as if he was daring me to shoot him. I didn't bother. By that point, his shields were at full power, so a couple pistol shots wouldn't do anything. Besides, I had other things to worry about. Like getting my ass and everyone else's onto the Normandy, which flew into view and touched down at that very moment.

"Everybody onboard," I yelled. "Go, go, go!"

I'm not sure how long it took for us to scramble onto the Normandy. Couldn't have been too long, as I made it to the cockpit as we were flying away. I dimly recall Joker telling the crew to hang on just before the nuke detonated.

All I remember is that I was there to see the nuclear detonation explode, lighting up the atmosphere with a harsh blinding light before disappearing in a mushroom cloud of smoke. I owed Ashley that much.

We all did.

* * *

It was a quiet squad that shuffled into the comm room. We sat down and stared. At the floor, mostly.

Kaidan finally broke the silence. "I... I can't believe Ash didn't make it. How could we just leave her down there?"

"Ash knew the risks going in," I replied. "She gave her life to save us."

He turned to me, a haunted look on his face. "But why me? Why not her?"

"There was no time," I said, falling back on the obvious. "I couldn't save you both. The bomb was about to go off. I had to make a call."

"I know," Kaidan hastened to reassure me, "and I am grateful for what you did. But Ash died because of me. If I'd done my job, you wouldn't have to make that call."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," I told him. "It wasn't my fault. The only one to blame here is Saren."

"Yes, sir," Kaidan nodded. "I... we'll get it done."

Liara leaned forward. "Commander? Excuse me for interrupting, but I have an idea. I think the beacon we found in Saren's base was similar to your descriptions of the one you found on Eden Prime. It may have filled in the missing pieces of your vision. I might be able to help you put all those pieces together."

"By joining our minds again," I realized. Upon seeing her nod, I agreed. "Okay. Go ahead."

Once again, we went through that whole little asari song-and-dance and flashed through the vision. I came out of it okay. Liara, though, seemed a bit stunned.

"Incredible," she finally said. "I... I never thought the visions would be so intense!"

"Did the visions make any sense to you?" I asked.

"It's a distress call," she replied, "a message sent out across the Prothean empire. A warning against the Reapers, but it came too late."

Well, that explains all the pretty pictures of death and destruction. Not so helpful about the current objective, though. "What about the Conduit? Anything in the vision about that."

Liara frowned in concentration. "There were other images. Locations. Places I recognize from my research... Ilos!" she suddenly blurted in realization. "The Conduit is on Ilos! That is why Saren needed to find the Mu Relay! It is the only way to get to Ilos."

"Then that's our next destination," I decided.

"Forget it," Tali disagreed, shaking her head. "The Mu Relay's inside the Terminus Systems. Alliance ships are not welcome there. Neither are Spectres."

Which meant that there was an even better-than-usual chance of getting blown out of the sky. Still... "Hopefully, the Normandy's stealth systems will help us sneak in undetected."

"Hopefully," Garrus repeated.

"We don't have a choice," I sighed. "The Conduit's on Ilos. That's where Saren is heading. I want to be waiting for him when he gets there."

"Saren will have his entire fleet orbiting Ilos," Liara argued. "You will never make it down to the surface without reinforcements. You must inform the Council. We need a fleet to... uh..."

She swayed for a moment before steadying herself. "I am sorry. The joining is... exhausting. I should go to the medical bay and lie down for a moment."

"We're done here," I nodded. "Crew dismissed."

As the squad got up to leave, Joker contacted me over the comm. Uncharacteristically for him, his voice was quiet and subdued. I guess we weren't the only ones shaken by Ashley's death. "Commander, there's a comm buoy nearby. I can link us in if you want to report back to the Citadel Council. You know, to warn them about Sovereign."

"Set the link up, Joker," I agreed. "They need to know."

"Patching it through."

After a minute, TPTB flickered into view. "Commander Shepard," the asari councillor began. "I'm pleased to see your mission on Virmire was a success."

Well, I guess they were correct. Technically.

"Saren is formidable enough without an army of krogan serving under him," she went on.

"The krogan would have ultimately served Sovereign and the other Reapers," I corrected.

"Yes, we saw mention of this in your report," the salarian councillor said hesitantly. "Sovereign. A sentient machine. A true artificial intelligence. This news is quite alarming... if it turns out to be accurate."

"Sovereign's a Reaper," I said firmly. "It admitted it. Saren admitted it."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. "He's playing you, Shepard!" the turian councillor sniffed. "Saren still has contacts on the Citadel. He probably saw your earlier reports. The ones talking about your vision. And the Reapers."

"It's highly possible Saren is using false information to throw you off balance. Our own intelligence has never turned up any corroborating information."

Oh for crying out loud.

"Sooner or later, you're going to have to take something I say on faith, Councillors," I said sharply.

"Try to see this from our perspective, Commander," the asari councillor tried to explain. "Saren is a threat we can recognize. However, as far as we know, the Reapers only exist in your visions."

The salarian councillor took over. "Our decisions affect trillions of lives. We cannot act on the accusations of a single person. Even a Spectre. Not without solid evidence."

"The Council cannot take any official action here," the asari councillor continued. "That is why we created the Spectres. You have the authority to act as you see fit."

Back to the salarian councillor. Again. It was entirely possible that, somehow, they decided to keep their turian counterpart out of the conversation. Probably because they knew that would just derail the whole debriefing into one long argument. **(3)** "If you truly believe Sovereign is the real threat, you must take whatever steps are necessary to stop it. And Saren."

"Good luck, Commander," the asari councillor concluded. "From all of us."

Gee. Thanks.

* * *

The way I saw it, there were two options: I could go straight to Ilos and hope that the much-vaunted stealth systems would actually work, or I could contact the Citadel or Alliance and try to rustle up some ships to back me up. Both of those sounded rather hinky.

So I did the next best thing: occupy myself with busywork.

I managed to distract myself with paperwork for half an hour before I got bored. So I left my quarters and started wandering around.

Given that Kaidan and 'his' panel were right outside, he was the first person I talked to.

"Kaidan," I greeted him. "I wanted to see how you were dealing with Ash's death."

"Dealing, sir," he replied sadly. "Sorry for anything I said back there. Adrenaline, you know."

I waved his apology off. "I understand. I don't like losing people, either."

Kaidan's eyes seemed to drift off. "I've served with the Alliance for years, but I've _never_ lost a soldier under my command. Not to hostile action, anyways." Then his eyes focused on me. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you deal with the losses on Elysium?"

Thankfully, I didn't need to think of a response. I'd been refining the same BS for years, so it came to me automatically: "It was my job to get everyone out safe. I failed. I vowed not to let that happen again. Same here. I'll remember her, and I'll do better for her." **(4) **

Kaidan nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess that's all we can do. Thanks for the advice, sir."

* * *

"I've been thinking about Saren," Liara said when I popped by the sickbay. She seemed to have recovered from the mind meld/joining thingy. "I actually feel a little sorry for him now."

"He's become a slave to the Reapers, and he can't even see it," I said, seeing where she was going.

"He is trapped inside his own mind. Part of him senses his identity being swallowed up by Sovereign, but he is powerless to stop it. I wonder how he first fell into Sovereign's trap? Did he think he could somehow stop the Reapers from returning? Or was he simply driven by a lust for power and glory?"

Her guess was as good as mine. **(5)** "Whatever Saren's reasons may have been, they're long gone now. He has to be stopped."

"Yes, I suppose you are right," Liara agreed. "He may be Sovereign's victim, but he is also a threat to all life as we know it."

* * *

I found Garrus on the garage floor. For once, he wasn't tinkering with the Mako. Instead, he was sitting down by one of the tires.

"Garrus? You okay?" I asked.

He sighed and got up. "Not really. It's just... I feel responsible for her death somehow."

"Why's that?"

"Because I was her team leader," Garrus responded immediately. "I was responsible for what happened to her, and I let her down."

"From what I saw, you did everything right," I reassured him. "Your tactics were flawless, your team met or exceeded all their expectations, and none of the other teams screwed you over. There was nothing you could have done. There was nothing _any _of us could have done."

Garrus nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"She chose to activate the nuke. To sacrifice herself in order to save us all."

"Yeah, I know," Garrus repeated. "Still feels like it's my fault, though."

* * *

"Yeah," I admitted. "I know."

"Shepard," Tali greeted me when I entered the engine room. "You need something?"

"Just wanted to know how you were coping with what happened to Ash," I replied.

Tali turned to face me. "I keep telling myself that she was really good at her job, never shirked her responsibilities and died to protect her crew. By quarian standards, that's the best way to live and... well... pass away." 

"But that isn't enough, is it?" I guessed.

She shook her head. "I told you before how grateful I was that you treated me as any other member of the crew. As an equal, not as a second-class citizen. Ashley took a while to open up to me. Not quite sure how to act around a quarian, I guess."

From what I knew of her, I'd guess Tali's impression was pretty spot-on.

"But she was always honest about it," Tali continued, "and she was quick to admit when she was wrong. She was always talking about her family, how much they meant to her, and how she wished I had a sister so I could relate."

Her shoulders sagged. "I never told her that I was starting to look to her as the sister I never had. Now I'll never have the chance to tell her."

* * *

As I left the engine room, I saw Captain Kirrahe with the remnants of his STG. Just about everyone who was at the camp when I first met them made it out alive. That's something, I guess.

Captain Kirrahe walked over when he saw me. To my surprise, he lifted his hand towards me. Salarian intelligence must've learned about human greeting customs at some point. Not surprised: their intelligence networks _are_ the best in the galaxy.

"It was an honour working with you, Commander Shepard," he said, shaking my hand. "Despite the losses, our mission was a success." He paused a moment before continuing: "My superiors will duly honour Chief Williams for her actions. Her sacrifice has earned humanity a great deal of respect from my people." **(6)**

"Ash was a hell of a soldier," I replied, not quite trusting myself to say anything other than meaningless platitudes. "She knew what the risks were, but she did what she had to."

Kirrahe seemed to understand. "Of course. A grim reality that every soldier must accept. Rest assured, Commander, my men and I won't forget what you have accomplished here. We will leave your ship as soon as you reach your next destination."

"There's no rush," I said. If they could provide backup for my mission to hunt down Saren, I certainly wouldn't say no.

"We have to report back to our superiors," Kirrahe explained. "Standard procedure."

"Of course," I nodded.

"Perhaps we will have the opportunity to work together again someday," he concluded, offering his hand.

"I hope so," I said, shaking his hand. "Though maybe we can skip cannibalizing ships into improvised nukes next time?"

For the first time since I'd met him, he smiled.

* * *

Joker was still pretty shook up by Ashley's death. For him, that meant he was quieter than usual and skipped the usual smart-ass remarks.

"Commander," he said softly. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you down there. Making the call between Alenko and Williams must have been... I'm sorry, sir. I don't know if I could have done it."

"There is no right choice for something like that," I replied, surprising myself with my uncharacteristically honest response. "I just hope I never have to go through that again."

"Same here," he sighed. "It's... it's hard, you know?"

"How're you holding up?" I asked, gripping his shoulder.

"I'll be okay, Commander," he reassured me. "I just need some time."

"If you want to talk or anything—" I started to offer.

"Don't worry," Joker interrupted me, looking me in the eye. "I'll be fine. I wanna be there when you make that son of a bitch pay," he added grimly.

* * *

I had just taken a dozen steps when Joker yelled "Commander!"

"Yeah?"

The grin I was used to seeing was back on Joker's face. "I forwarded those mission updates to the Citadel earlier, and I just got a reply. We've got confirmation on those reinforcements. Ambassador Udina wants us to report back to the Citadel."

I couldn't believe it. "Serious?"

Joker nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! The Council's mobilizing a joint-species fleet to deal with Saren and the geth."

I couldn't believe it. TPTB and Udina were finally yanking their heads out of the sand.

"I _knew _they'd come around. Back to the Citadel, Joker," I ordered. My paranoid streak was starting to act up. Probably because it sensed I was volunteering to risk my life again. Stifling it, I continued: "I want the Normandy at the head of that fleet when we go after Saren!"

* * *

"Whaddya mean we're not going after Saren?" I demanded.

We'd just docked at the Citadel and made a beeline for the Citadel Tower. Udina actually complimented me on a job well done and said that, thanks to my efforts, TPTB was finally taking 'real action' against Saren.

In hindsight, that was the point where I should've listened to my paranoid streak.

TPTB went on to explain that they had stationed patrols at every mass relay connecting Citadel space to the Terminus Systems to block any attack from the geth. In other words, their joint-species fleet was gonna just bunker down and do squat.

"You mean we're not going to send any ships to Ilos?" I interpreted.

"Ilos is only accessible through the Mu Relay, deep inside the Terminus Systems, Commander. If we send a fleet in there, the only possible outcome is full-scale war."

"Now is the time for discretion, Commander," Udina whispered to me. "Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy. Exposed, he is no longer a threat. This is over."

"Secrecy isn't his greatest weapon," I disagreed. "The Conduit is!"

"Saren is a master manipulator," the salarian councillor disagreed. "The Conduit is just a distraction from his real plan to attack the Citadel."

Time to try another tack. "Why are you fixated on Saren anyways? He's just a servant of the Reapers. Sovereign's the real threat!"

"Only you have seen the Reapers. And then only in visions," the asari councillor replied, repeating our earlier conversation. "We won't invade the Terminus Systems because of a dream."

"We don't have to 'invade' anything," I protested. "Maybe you're right. Maybe sending a fleet in will cause more problems than it'll solve. But one ship going into the Terminus Systems won't start a war. I can be discreet."

The turian councillor snorted. "You detonated a nuclear device on Virmire. I wouldn't call that 'discreet!'"

"Your style served you well in the Traverse, Commander," the asari councillor said smoothly. "We recognize that. But Ilos requires a deft touch. We have the situation under control."

"Oh for crying out loud!" I cried out. "If Saren finds the Conduit, we're all screwed! We have to go to Ilos!"

"Ambassador Udina," the turian councillor said, a bit too calmly, "I get the sense Commander Shepard isn't willing to let this go."

Uh oh.

"There are serious political implications here, Shepard," Udina lectured me. "Humanity's made great gains thanks to you. But now you're becoming more trouble than you're worth."

I felt the sudden urge to check my back for holes.

Kaidan was the one who voiced our collective opinion, albeit in an uncharacteristically blunt manner: "You _bastard_! You're selling us out!"

Udina ignored him. "It's just politics, Commander," he said, looking at me over his shoulder. "You've done your job, now let me do mine. We've locked out all the Normandy's primary systems. Until further notice, you're grounded."

"Are you insane?" I asked, somehow keeping a level voice. "After everything I've done, you still don't believe me?"

"I think it's time for you and your team to leave, Commander. This no longer concerns you," Udina concluded before turning away. "The Council can handle this. With my help, of course."

Huh.

That went well, didn't it?

* * *

So that was it. We were screwed. The galaxy was screwed.

Since we now had nothing but time on our hands, we went back to the Normandy. By the time we arrived, Joker had already figured out what Udina and Citadel Control had done to the Normandy. Which meant that the entire crew were fully briefed a minute later.

I spent the next hour finishing my personnel report on Ash. Man, that was the toughest one ever. After that, I went over to my locker and started sorting through the extra weapons and mods that I'd collected over the last several months. I was just about to start going through the hardsuit mods when Joker reached me over the comm.

"Sorry to interrupt, Commander. Got a message from Captain Anderson."

"What did he want, Joker?"

"He said to meet him at Flux. You know, over in the Upper Wards."

"Understood," I replied.

Wonder what that was all about.

Shrugging, I contacted the rest of the squad and told them to suit up. Only one way to find out.

* * *

You'd think that, with the fate of the galaxy at stake and all, that there wouldn't be anything else to worry about.

You'd be wrong. There's always something.

As soon as I left the Normandy, I stopped off at the med clinic to sell some surplus loot. Rather than hop back on the shuttle to go to Flux, I decided to walk. Big mistake, as I bumped into a protest staged by Terra Firma. Their leader, Charles Saracino, tried to get me to support his candidacy for one of the Alliance political seats. **(7)** Right. Like I'm gonna risk soiling my rep by associating with a mob of narrow-minded ultraconservative dimwits who traded Bible-thumping for xenophobia. Of course, I didn't say that. Instead, I politely declined and continued on my way.

I was this close to Flux when I got accosted by some diplomat named Elias Keeler. He'd been relying on stims to keep up with the salarians during some big negotiations. **(8)** Problem was, the negotiations weren't over and he'd 'met the monthly limit', so he wanted me to score him some more drugs. Since my reputation says 'hero' and not 'drug-dealer' or 'enabler', I convinced him to hand things over to his assistant and go seek help before he killed himself.

Eventually, I made it to Flux. Captain Anderson was already there at one of the tables, having chosen to drop his usual fatigues for a plain black short-sleeved shirt and pants.

"I'm glad you came, Commander," he greeted me. "I heard what happened."

"Then you know they pulled me off the mission," I said, sitting down. The rest of the squad remained standing, clustering around me. "Just like when they forced you to give up the Normandy."

"I know," Anderson acknowledged. "I'm sorry. I wanted to warn you, but there was no way to get a message to you before you docked."

I waved his apology off. "If there was something you could have done, you'd have done it."

Now that the pleasantries were out of the way, Anderson got down to business. "I know you're pissed off right now, but you can't give up. They all think this is over, but we know it's not. You have to go to Ilos. You have to stop Saren from using the Conduit."

"No argument here," I agreed. "Just one minor problem: there's only one ship that can get us into the Terminus Systems undetected, and she's grounded."

"I know," Anderson said, "and I've been thinking about that. Citadel Control's locked out all the Normandy's systems. But if we override the ambassador's orders, we can get them to bring the Normandy back online. You can be in the Terminus Systems before anyone knows you're gone."

"Stealing the Normandy's mutiny," I reminded him. "What if the crew won't help me?"

Behind me, I heard a snort. I never found out from who. **(9)**

Anderson's response was a bit more polite: "The Normandy's your ship now, Commander. Her crew will follow you to the ends of the galaxy. We all know that."

"If we steal the Normandy and go off 'to the ends of the galaxy,' you're the one holding the bag," I pointed out.

"And if Saren finds the Conduit, life as we know it is over," Anderson rebutted firmly. The Reapers will destroy us. Humans, asari, everybody! You're the only one who can stop him, Shepard. So I'll do whatever it takes to get you on the Normandy and off this station."

"I won't forget this, Captain," I nodded gratefully. He could get court-martialled for this—all of us could—and he knew it. The fact that he was willing to do it anyways spoke volumes. "I promise."

Anderson leaned towards me. "I can unlock the Normandy from one of the consoles in the Citadel Control centre. You'll have a few minutes before anyone realizes what's happened."

"That's a restricted area patrolled by armed guards," Garrus informed him. "How are you going to get in?"

"Leave that to me," Anderson tried to brush his concerns off. "Just make sure you're _in_ the Normandy when the systems come back online."

As much as I'm glad that someone else was taking this seriously, and was willing to put his ass—and reputation—on the line for me, even I thought this was too much. "You're going to get yourself killed," I protested. "There has to be another way."

"Ambassador Udina issued the lockdown order. If I can hack into the computer in his office, maybe I can override it." Judging from how fast he replied, I figured this must have been his Plan B all along.

"Yeah... about that. I already tried dumping some viruses on his computer after I became a Spectre," I admitted. "Citadel IT Services must've found it and wiped it out, because they aren't there anymore. So remote hacking's gonna be a bit tricky."

"Actually, I was planning on overriding the lockdown using Udina's computer," Anderson explained.

"He's not going to let you waltz into his office and use his computer," Kaidan pointed out.

"Hopefully, he won't be there," Anderson said. "If he is... I'll just have to think of something."

"Udina won't let this slide, Captain." Apparently, neither was Kaidan. "You'll be charged with treason, a capital offence."

Anderson sighed. "We don't have a lot of options. Either I break into the ambassador's computer, or I take my chances with the patrols in Citadel Control."

I've always had a fondness for Plan B. This was no exception. Coming to a decision, I stood up. "You'll have a better chance if you go after the ambassador's computer."

I swear I could see a slight smile on Anderson's face. "I was hoping you'd say that," he said. "The ambassador has made this personal. You ready to get the hell off this station, Commander?"

"Almost," I said, thinking quickly. This was going to be the last chance to pick up anything from the Citadel kiosks, so we had to make it count. "Kaidan," I said, turning around, "take Garrus and Liara with you. Go visit Delan on the Presidium and the C-Sec Requisitions Office at the C-Sec Academy. See if there's anything worth getting. I'll give you my account info if you find anything."

"You're giving us your account info," Garrus repeated.

"Yes," I said firmly. "And I'll be checking it immediately, so I'll know if you wasted my credits on asari porn when you should..." I stopped, belatedly realizing my superior officer was still at the table. I turned to him, trying to do a better job than Kaidan at preventing my cheeks from flushing.

"Did you say something, Commander?" Anderson asked innocently. "You'll have to speak up, I'm afraid. It's very noisy in here."

Giving him a quick grin, I turned back. "Wrex, Tali: we'll hit Expat and Morlan. Whoever gets back to the Normandy first, tell Joker what's going on. In person: I don't want to risk anyone finding out because they intercepted our communications. That includes secure channels."

I turned around to face Anderson again. "Can you give us an hour to make final preparations?"

"Done," Anderson nodded, rising to his feet. "I'll take care of the lockdown. You do what you have to do, get back to the Normandy and tell Joker to stand by."

* * *

For some reason, I couldn't help but think that I should have had Kaidan visit Expat and Morlan instead. Couldn't remember why, though.

Shrugging, I went over to Expat and skimmed through his wares. Most of his stuff I already acquired through my constant looting. The only item worth buying was a top-of-the-line Mark X Savant omni-tool, which I happily purchased.

I was about to head down the stairs to Morlan's kiosk when I saw a blond man waving at me.

Aw, crap.

"Hey, Commander Shepard! Remember me?"

Aw, crap. It was that creepy stalker fan. What was his name again?

"It's me! Conrad Verner! I've been waiting for you to get back!"

Right. That. Stifling a groan, I walked over to him.

"I had an idea, and I wanted to run it by you," he said, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

"What's on your mind," I asked reluctantly.

"With so many human colonies being attacked, I'm not sure that one Spectre is enough," Conrad began.

"Okay..."

"What if you signed me on as another Spectre?"

Oh for crying out loud.

"Conrad," I stalled for a moment, trying to find the best way to answer, then ultimately gave up: "I haven't been shot in the head nearly enough times to make that seem like a good idea."

"Joke all you want," Conrad frowned, "but there were people who didn't believe in you, and you worked out right?"

Actually, I had the exact opposite problem, but I didn't think it was worth telling him that. It'd probably just go in one ear and out the other.

"I want to be with you," Conrad said eagerly, clenching his fists in excitement. "Fighting the good fight, like you did on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz!"

Good grief. I had to think of something fast. With my luck, he'll get himself killed while proclaiming that I gave the okay, and I'll get blamed for it.

"I believe you, Conrad," I replied, plastering a smile on my face. "But there's another fight that needs you."

Conrad rubbed in head in confusion. "What? I don't understand."

"You know what keeps me going out here? Knowing that people back home are keeping humanity strong."

Actually, what kept me going out here was the prospect of more loot, but he didn't need to know that.

"Yeah but..." Conrad started before he gave up. His shoulders sagged and his head slumped. "You're right. I just got so caught up in all of it. I wanted to help. I'll go home," he said reluctantly. "Thanks for setting me straight."

Wrex shook his head as Conrad slumped away. "Idiot."

* * *

Morlan didn't have anything, so we went back to the Normandy. We bumped into Kaidan and Team Two outside the C-Sec Requisitions Office. Apparently, all they managed to find were some Level X Colossus hardsuits for Kaidan and Garrus. Since that concluded our little shopping expedition, we took the elevator up to the Normandy together.

Tali shifted back and forth on her feet for a minute before giving up and turning to Wrex. "Forgive the impertinence, Wrex, but you are not like the krogan described in the stories on the Flotilla."

Wrex shrugged. "When you're young, you go looking for every fight you can. You get older, you realize the best fights will find you."

Tell me about it.

By the time we finished our agonizingly slow elevator ride and cycled through decon, there was only ten minutes left until showtime. Before I went down to my quarters and changed into fatigues, I gave Joker the heads-up.

"Gee thanks, Commander. Way to give me lots of notice," he replied sarcastically. Guess he'd managed to get past his initial grieving period. That, or he was burying it under the prospect of upcoming work (and certain doom, with my luck).

"It's not as if you can do much prep with the systems locked up," I pointed out.

"Well yeah, but there's all the pre-flight checks I gotta do," he retorted. "Under threat of impending lockdown. Not fun, Commander."

I raised an eyebrow. "And there's nothing you can do about that?"

"Well... I guess I could skip them all and force a cold start," he conceded. "Since I _am _the best pilot in the Alliance and we're kinda in a rush. Not really recommended, though."

"I'll let it slide, just this once, Lieutenant," I replied.

"Gee thanks."

So I trotted down, got out of my hardsuit, stowed my weapons and raced back to the cockpit.

After putting on fatigues, of course. Wouldn't do to run through the ship stark naked and reveal to the crew how much weight I'd lost due to the constant stress this damn mission had put on me.

"Ready to get going?" I asked Joker when I got back.

"As soon as that light turns green," he replied, pointing at a large button on the control console. It was currently red.

The chronometer changed to 1300 hours-the time Anderson and I had agreed upon.

Joker raised his hand in anticipation.

1301 hours.

We looked at each other.

"I told the captain to _start _now," I said, more to convince myself than because I believed my own crap. "He'd need some time to figure out how to override the lockdown, even if Udina isn't in his office."

"Yeah. Of course," Joker said, somewhat unconvincingly.

1302 hours.

We looked at each other, looked at the chronometer, looked at each other again, and then silently agreed to just look at the big red button...

...which suddenly turned green.

We heard a couple thuds as the mag-locks outside detached from the Normandy.

"Get us out of here, Joker," I ordered. "Now!"

Joker's fingers were already flying over the console. I could feel a slight pull as the Normandy raced out of the docking bay before the momentum dampeners kicked in. As we flew away from the Citadel, Joker directed us towards the nearest mass relay while simultaneously calculating the fastest and most accurate vector to Ilos. While he did so, I kept a close eye on all the Citadel Fleet ships in the area. Especially the Ascension. It would be just my luck to get caught by the flagship of the Citadel Fleet herself.

Thankfully, we made it to the mass relay without anyone starting on an intercept vector.

It was then, and only then, that I allowed myself to start thinking—and breathing—again.

We made it.

We were free to go off to our certain doom.

I really need my head examined.

* * *

_(1): Shepard's decision was the right one, militarily speaking. Doesn't make it any easier, though._

_(2): The answer to that question would be discovered by Shepard in another mission. It does not affect the reader's understanding of this mission at this time._

_(3): I have no comment on the accuracy of Shepard's comments. _

_(4): While Shepard's advice to Lt. Alenko contained the same content as every other answer he'd ever given to that question, it's worth noting that Shepard rarely used the same words twice._

_(5): Analysis of Saren's personal files indicate that he'd originally stumbled across references to Sovereign during the mission where I'd first met him. He seemed to hope that he could use Sovereign as a weapon of vengeance against the Alliance; partly due to the failure of his people to achieve victory during the First Contact War, partly to avenge the death of his own brother. Needless to say, Sovereign's agenda soon twisted and overrode his own._

_(6): Gunnery Chief Williams would posthumously receive the __Silver Dagger and Nova Cluster medals from the Salarian Union and Turian Hierarchy, respectively, becoming the first human to receive these awards._

_(7): As a side note, Mr. Saracino was one of the contenders for party leadership after the former leader, Inez Simmons, resigned due to a kickback scandal involving Nashan Stellar Dynamics. The only other contender, Claude Manneau, was ahead in the polls and could have won, had he not mysteriously disappeared on route to a political rally on Shanxi. Officially, his ship and crew were never found, and there are multiple theories to this day. Unofficially, there is some scant evidence linking this incident to intervention by Cerberus._

_(8): Those were the same negotiations that Ambassador Udina and I were trying to set up when Shepard reported in after his stop on Therum._

_(9): If memory serves, that was Wrex._


	27. Personnel Report: Ashley Williams

_Editorial Note: This personnel evaluation will examine Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Unlike other personnel reports, it is clear that this report, while covering conversations as far back as their first meeting on Eden Prime, was written after the events on Virmire._

**Personnel Evaluation—Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams**

There is a poem by Robert Frost that ends with the lines "I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference."

Ashley was not the average marine. In many ways, she was defined by 'the road less travelled by', which shaped the person I met when she first joined the Normandy's crew.

It took a while to figure her out. She was a bit shy and hesitant at first; something I eventually learned was uncharacteristic of her. In hindsight, it made sense: she was invited to join at the same time that we lost Jenkins. And she just lost her entire unit on Eden Prime. It'd tough to be yourself when you're fighting the feeling that you're someone else's replacement. It's even harder when you're suffering from a massive attack of survivor's guilt.

She was able to overcome those feelings, or at least compartmentalize them so they wouldn't distract her during combat. Now that I think about it, that was when I found the first clue to the puzzle of Ashley Williams: her weapons skills were perfect. As in _textbook perfect_. I was never certified in the use of the shotgun or assault rifle, though her handling of those weapons appeared to be flawless. However, I have had extensive training and field use of the pistol and sniper rifle. If you do a lot of drills and target practise, you tend to fire them one way. Spend a lot of time in combat, however, and you start to pick up some tricks that aren't included in Basic—okay, okay, and a few bad habits too. It was clear, by the way she used them, that Ashley's usage was the result of the former. Which begged the question of how much combat had she seen.

And then there was the way she reacted to Garrus's recommendations and planning during that undercover C-Sec operation that we inadvertently blundered into after rescuing Liara on Therum. Her objections had more to do with nonhumans covering my six than the merits of Garrus's plan. Maybe she was one of those pro-human speciesists. My gut, however, told me she was speaking out of inexperience. Inexperience with nonhumans, specifically. Just where had she spent her career, exactly? 100% groundside?"

I eventually got some answers to those conundrums when I popped down to chat with her. She'd established herself in the garage maintaining our weapons, something that was made considerably more difficult by my compulsive looting. So maybe she was relieved to see me. I dunno.

"Commander. You have a minute to talk?"

She seemed really nervous, as if the idea of talking to a superior officer was verboten or something, so I was quick to reassure her. "I keep an open-door policy. If you have any concerns, lay them on me."

"All right." Ashley took a deep breath before saying her piece: "I... I know things are different aboard the Normandy but, uh, I'm concerned about the aliens. Especially Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?"

"They may not serve the Alliance, Chief, but they're allies," I shrugged. "At least as far as Saren goes."

"Yeah but... this is the most advanced warship in the Alliance Navy," she protested. "I don't think we should give them free reign to poke around the vital systems. You know, engines, sensors, weapons. That sort of stuff."

I resisted the urge to point out that Vakarian spent his time poking around the Mako, which was anything _but _advanced, while Wrex, well, Wrex just stood there brooding or glaring at everyone. "Again, they're allies. Not just our allies, but the Alliance as well. You don't trust the Alliance's allies or something?"

"I'm not sure I'd call the Council races allies. We—humanity, I mean—have to learn to rely on ourselves."

"Standing up for ourselves doesn't mean standing alone," I pointed out. Especially if you can stand with a bunch of people in front of you. Big people, preferably, wearing heavy-class hardsuits.

"I don't think we should turn down allies," Ashley said. "I just don't think we should bet everything on them staying allies. As noble as the Council members seem now, if their backs are against the wall, they'll abandon us."

And here I thought I won the prize for biggest cynic in the Alliance. "You've got a pessimistic view of the universe, Williams."

"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist," came the prompt reply.

Fair enough.

She then went on some kind of explanation or rationalization that, quite frankly, was a bit painful to listen to. Something about sacrificing your pet dog to save yourself from a bear because pets aren't human, or as important as humans. Either that or she just wasn't a dog person.

"It's not racism," she tried to explain. "Not really. Members of their species will always be more important to them than humans are." 

I raised an eyebrow at this point. "You sound like one of those Terra Firma party pamphlets, Chief." **(1)**

Ashley took exception to that. "Terra Firma is a pack of jackals," she spat. "Their founders had ideals. These days, they just play off of xenophobia and bigotry."

And that's different from this... how, I wondered.

As if she read my thoughts, Ashley continued: "My father, grandfather and great-grandmother—they all picked up a rifle and swore the Oath of Service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own."

Whether she knew it or not, Ashley had just provided me with a way to uncover more about her, while cooling things down a notch. "You know, I come from a military family, too. Both my parents were in the navy. Anybody in your family we might know?"

"Couldn't say, Commander," Ashley said a little too quickly. "We probably have a lot in common, though. You join up to carry on the tradition?"

I made a mental note of her speedy answer before deciding to play along. "I don't think they meant to start a family tradition. But after sixteen years on ships and stations, how could I spend my life on the ground?"

"You're lucky," Ashley replied enviously. "I spent most of my career in groundside garrisons." **(2)**

So she _did _spend her career groundside. Most of it, anyways.

"If that's the case, then you probably didn't work with aliens before this posting," I deduced.

"No, sir," she confirmed. "I did get a rotation on a space station for training. You know: "Every marine, a rifleman; every rifleman, zee-gee certified."

While this conversation had answered some of the questions I had, it raised a new one. "That's odd," I mused. "Your record is spotless and your technical scores are exemplary. You should be serving with the fleet."

Again, Ashley was quick to move things along, no matter how obvious it was. Subtlety wasn't exactly her strong suit. "Um, anyways, uh, that's why I haven't served with many aliens, Commander."

"All right," I told her. "I can see where your concerns are coming from, Williams. But this is a multilateral mission. You're going to have to work with aliens, like it or not."

"It won't be a problem, Commander," she replied firmly. "You say 'jump,' I say 'how high.' You tell me to kiss a turian, I'll ask which cheek."

I jokingly turned to look at Garrus. He was half-buried in the Mako's innards, so we had a very clear view of his... um... cheeks. Turning back with a straight face, I told Ashley "I don't think kissing turians will be necessary."

Not to be outdone in the humour department, Ashley quickly said "You never know, Commander."

True to her word, Ashley didn't have any problems working with aliens. Granted, the fact that her team leader was another human might have helped. Still, she didn't seem to have any problems working with Tali or Liara, or trusting them to cover her six.

I dropped by one day to commend her on that, and accidentally caught the tail end of a conversation she was streaming over the extranet.

"Oh, before I go," a young girl's voice said brightly. "You said you're serving with Commander Shepard now? We saw him on the news here. He's _cute_. Later, sis."

Ashley turned around. The look of mortification on her face when she saw me was priceless. "Tell me you didn't hear that," she pleaded.

"Afraid I did," I admitted.

Her head drooped and her shoulders sagged. "Oh, shoot me now," she muttered.

Raising her head, she gave me the details. "One of my sisters. That's Sarah. The youngest." She raised an eyebrow. "Surprised to see you here, sir. Thought you'd be chatting up what's-her-name. T'Soni."

Clearly I was missing something. "Liara? Why would you think that?"

"Scuttlebutt says you got a bit of a thing for her."

Oh for crying out loud. The scuttlebutt clearly needed better sources. I had just come from sickbay, where I had to clear up that misconception with Liara. Boy was _that _awkward.

"I could understand why. The crew's off limits, with the regs against fraternization. And at least she looks like a woman."

I've never really understood women. I have enough difficulty understanding the REMFs who keep sending me on high-risk missions. But I had the feeling that Ashley was a little more interested in this than she was letting on.

"I don't have a 'thing' for her, though I wasn't aware my personal life was any of your business," I told her.

"It's not," Ashley said. "I just thought we were getting along pretty well, sir."

Aw, crap.

There we go: Ashley had a thing for me, and was trying to feel me out. I must admit I was flattered. She was attractive, confident, out-spoken... kind of like Liara's polar opposite, come to think of it. So why didn't I jump in? After all, I'd already fumbled my chances with Liara. Second chances don't come along very often, much less within half an hour.

There were two reasons why I eventually said no. First, regs are regs. Even though I was a Spectre now, it was still anybody's guess as to whether or not I was still part of the Alliance chain of command. If I wasn't, no problem... except for the whole dating-the-boss thing. If I was, well, the Alliance can be ridiculously anal about that sort of thing. Either way, my reputation would be mud. And probably Ashley's, too.

The other thing was that Ashley had something in common with Liara: they were both somewhat naive. In Ashley's case, she was a bit too wedded to her human-centric black-and-white point of view. When you've been around as long as I have, seen the things I've seen, and done the things I've done, you quickly come to realize how gray the universe really is. Until Ashley learned that for herself, we wouldn't be able to relate to each other.

"I think I gave you the wrong impression," I confessed, cursing myself with every word.

Ashley took it quite well, whether because she hadn't invested too much yet or because she was going to cry later, I never found out. "No problem. Probably for the best, what with the rules and all. So what's up?" she asked, smoothly moving the conversation along. "You didn't come by to eavesdrop on family mail."

Rather than follow my original intent, I decided to investigate this new facet while the door was open. "Your family seems to be important to you."

"Yeah, we've always been close," she nodded. "Me and my sisters especially. With Dad on duty so much, I had to help Mom raise them."

"Did you dad serve with the fleet," I asked.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, took any crap posting he could get that offered space time." Her face got slightly angrier as she continued, and her voice got increasingly bitter. "You know what? He worked his ass off trying to get recognized. But he never made it above Serviceman Third Class. He was real proud when I made Chief. First thing he did was salute."

"What about your mother?"

"You must know what military wives are like," she replied. "Strong because they have to be. Able to raise kids while Dad's away on a six-month cruise. She has a degree in planetary geology. Wanted to see new worlds as much as Dad did. She gave that up to raise us, though."

She seemed sad, either due to her father's 'crap postings' or her mother's sacrifices, so I changed the subject: "You said you had more than one sister. Sounds like a big family."

"Yeah, I'm the oldest. Then Abby, then Lynn. Sarah's the youngest. She's still in high school. With four girls, Dad used to say he felt more outnumbered at home than on manoeuvres."

"Where was home, exactly? Where did you grow up?"

"All over," Ashley shrugged. "Same as you, I guess." Her next words brought back old memories: "We transferred a half-dozen times before I finished grade school. You go wherever Personnel Command sends you, right? I guess that's why I'm so tight with my sisters. We'd have to leave all our friends every two or three years."

"I was an only child, but I get the idea," I nodded. "At least one of my parents was always on duty."

"Yeah. Military families, huh?" she smiled ruefully. "With schedules like that, it's a wonder we ever have kids anymore."

"I spent most of my childhood on starships with my parents," I continued. "It sounds like you didn't, though. Did your family grow up planetside while your dad was on deployment?"

"Dad always wanted to serve in space, but he wanted us to have real ground under our feet," she confirmed. "He'd say 'Space is beautiful, but you can't raise a family there.' His opinion, obviously," she added, noting how my parents raised me.

Then she did something I didn't expect: she started quoting poetry.

"'I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees. All times I have enjoy'd greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those that loved me, and alone. For always roaming with a heavy heart. Much have I seen and known. Cities of men, and manners, climates, councils, governments...'"

"Never thought I'd hear you reciting poetry," I commented.

"Just because I can drill you between the eyes at a hundred metres, doesn't mean I can't like sensitive stuff," she said indignantly. "Just don't go spreading it around," she added.

"Cross my heart," I replied, making the requisite motion. "Does that poem have any particular significance or did you just pick it randomly?"

"'Ulysses' was Dad's favourite poem. Every time he shipped out, he recorded me reading it. He had a dozen versions when he retired?"

"Does he still like it?" I asked innocently.

"I sure hope so," she replied. "I read it to his grave every time I go home. Dad passed on a few years ago. He's with God now," she explained. "He's probably still watching, though. So behave."

A hesitant look swept over her face. "That's not a problem with you, is it? That I believe in God?"

This reminded me of those old vid-games. You know, the one where you're talking to someone and have to pick a response:

Option 1—"I'm pretty sure there is a God, a Creator. I just think He has a really warped sense of humour."

Option 2—"I try not to bother God, and hope He'll do me the same courtesy."

Option 3—"Nope, cuz good sense, good weapons and a good hardsuit is a helluva lot more reliable than divine intervention." **(3) **

Probably a little too blunt for most people, especially for believers like Ashley. So I did what I did best: I lied through my teeth.

"Everyone has the right to believe that they want," I declared. "Says so in the Alliance charter. Only with fancier words."

Okay, so it was more of a white lie. Sue me.

"Glad you're open-minded about it. I've met a few people who were really weirded out by my faith. Because I work in space, I can't believe in a higher power? Geez! I mean, hello? Have you people looked out a window? How can you look at this galaxy and not believe in... _something_?"

She seemed a bit embarrassed by this outburst, because she quickly wrapped things up. "I should get back to my duties. Didn't mean to take up so much of your time."

Regrettably, the last time we had a chance to have a one-on-one conversation was just before Virmire. I was just going to see how everyone was doing before heading up to the cockpit when I saw Ashley. She seemed a bit subdued, so I went over to see how she was doing.

"Hey, skipper," she said. "Any interest in a small drink? It's a special occasion."

Crud. Did I forget something again? "What's the occasion?" I asked, giving up.

"It's Armistice Day."

Right. When the First Contact War ended. But no one celebrated that. Except for those Terra Firma whackjobs.

Ashley must have seen the confusion on my face. "Since I'm the only Williams aboard, I thought I'd ask you."

That didn't help. Clearly I'd have to go digging for more. "Seems like an odd thing to celebrate. That was twenty-six years ago."

"In our family, it's not really a celebration. More like an obligation." She glanced up, a confused look on her face. "Don't tell me you don't know about my family," she said slowly. "My commanders always find out. Isn't it in my files or something?"

"There's almost nothing in your files," I told her, not having a clue what she was talking about. "Just technical scores, which are exemplary by the way, and a list of crap assignments."

"There's a reason for the crap assignments," she muttered bitterly. She took a deep breath before confessing: "I'm General William's granddaughter. The commander of the Shanxi garrison? 'The only human ever to surrender to an alien race?'"

Ah. That explained everything: why she tried to be 'the best that she could be.' Why she was so desperate to be gung-ho for the Alliance. And possibly why she and her father had so much trouble advancing in the Alliance. The stupid REMFs were still bitter about 'losing' the Shanxi colony during the First Contact War to the turians, and were punishing her family for the sins of the father. Well, grandfather. "I see," I finally said. "That's why you drive yourself so hard."

"'A Williams has to be better than the best, if only to avoid suspicion,'" she quoted. "That's what my father told me the night before he retired. It takes a special kind of thick-headed to march into a job where your family's blacklisted. I did it anyway. I'm _not _going to let our name go down with Arnold and Quisling. **(4)** Granddad deserved better than that."

If she was willing to give her side of the story, I was more than willing to listen. My curiosity will probably be the death of me, but not today. Besides, she probably needed someone to vent to. "As I recall, your grandfather held out for a long time," I started.

Ashley took the bait. "When they arrived at Shanxi, the turians wrecked the orbitals in the first wave, and occupied the major cities. They sat in orbit, dropping rocks on _anything _that moved. Granddad dispersed the troops. But when they went into the cities for supplies, the turians would wreck a block to eliminate one fire-team. Civilians were dying. His troops were starving. And he couldn't contact Alliance High Command. So he surrendered the garrison."

Sounded about right. Do the right thing, the _smart _thing, instead of the politically sexy thing, and everybody hates you for it. "What happened to your grandfather after the war?" I asked curiously.

"He was relieved of command as soon as Shanxi was liberated," Ashley replied. "They brought him back to Earth, but there was never a trial. They quietly demoted him, and stuck him behind a desk. He retired a year later, and spent the rest of his life working _construction_ in the colonies. Sometimes we hear about attempts to get him exonerated in some official way. Nothing ever comes of them."

"He refused to sacrifice his men just to save face for humanity," I summarized. "Good for him. What about you?"

Ashley jerked her head towards me. "Me?"

"Yeah," I challenged. "You planning to throw yourself on a sword to save face for him?"

Maybe a bit harsh, but I had to know. Ashley had clearly been carrying this baggage around for a long time, and she was the kind of person who'd think some big grand sacrificial gesture would solve everything. Problem was, that kind of sacrifice would probably drag me along for the ride.

"Would it make a difference?" she asked bitterly. "He's gone now. Dad's gone too. And who would it impress, anyways? I'll never be good enough for the Alliance." She shook off her mien and tried to adopt a lighter tone. "But hey, once we save the galaxy, maybe the Alliance will get its act together. Start acting like an actual government."

I shrugged. "The Alliance isn't perfect, but it does well enough."

"Have to disagree with you there, skipper," Ashley shook her head. "Giving aliens the run of our most advanced ship? Kowtowing to the Council?"

Again with the black-and-white attitude.

"The Alliance should be able to stand on its own. We can't. Yet," I added, before Ashley could say anything. "Why not learn from the races who have been standing for the last thousand years?"

"How can you say that, given everything we've seen out here?" Ashley cried out. "They're already acting like Saren's _our _problem. Already siccing us on the bear. The Council races will always think of themselves first. It's... human nature. We can't afford to trust them. Not if the survival of humanity is on the line."

Why do _I _of all people have to be the voice of reason, when I'm anything but qualified? Stifling that question on, I did what I did best: I pulled something out of my ass. "Ash, you believe in God, right? An infallible, all-knowing creator with a plan for the universe. You think the diversity of views in the galaxy isn't part of that?"

"I don't know what God intends, Shepard," Ashley replied. "I don't think humans have some divine mandate, if that's what you mean. I don't think we're superior."

"Humans are aggressive," I pointed out. "We think fast, we move fast. Wars have started because of our need for constant progress. The Council can balance that."

And hopefully minimize the number of times that grunts like me get dragged onto the front lines, I silently added.

"That's..." Ashley started before considering what I'd said. "Huh. I never thought of it that way. All 'big picture,' I mean. Doesn't make what happened to Granddad any better, though."

"No, it doesn't," I conceded. "Personally, what happened to your grandfather shouldn't have happened. He placed the lives of his men and the people he was protecting above some pointless last stand that the REMFs and politicians find sexy. They didn't get that. They _still _don't get that. But we know better." 

Ashley smiled at me gratefully. "Well, at least somebody knows that. And a Star of Terra recipient, no less. Granddad would love that.

"Well, I have to finish cleaning these rifles before our next mission. I have a feeling things will come to a head soon. But don't worry, Shepard: I'll protect you."

Fateful last words, as it turned out. I just hoped that _someone _out there appreciates the sacrifice she made. **(5)**

It seems fitting to end this with an excerpt from another poem, this time by Walt Whitman. I hope Ashley appreciates it, wherever she is:

_O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;  
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;  
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;  
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;_

_Here Captain! dear father!_

_This arm beneath your head;_

_It is some dream that on the deck,_

_You've fallen cold and dead._

_

* * *

_

_(2): An unofficial motto of the Alliance military is a maxim by Sun Tzu: 'He who tries to defend everything defends nothing. Garrisons are placed on colony worlds for scouting and reconnaissance of invaders, rather than actual combat—something that colonists often complain about. In keeping with the Alliance's focus on fire support, flexibility and speed, fleets are stationed at mass relay nexuses, where they can respond to attacks with overwhelming force. _

_(3): While the discovery of the Prothean data cache on Mars created new religions—and cults—most religions had trouble reconciling with the concept of extraterrestrial life. As a result, practise of any given religion in the Alliance is now uncommon. Shepard's response, however, seems to go beyond that. I don't think he had any particular animosity or issue against religion. It is more likely that he was extremely sceptical of any deity that could allow so much suffering to go unchallenged, particularly as said suffering tended to risk his life and limb. As a result, he depended on his wits, skills and experience to get him through those situations. He was wise enough, however, to keep his feelings to himself. _

_(4): General Williams was, perhaps irrationally, blamed for betraying the Alliance by surrendering Shanxi to the turians during the First Contact War. As such, Chief Williams is referring to Benedict Arnold, an American general who switched sides to the British during the American Revolutionary War, and Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian who worked with the Nazis after they conquered his country during World War II and was rewarded by being appointed head of the collaborationist Norwegian government. Both names are used to this day as bywords for betrayal and treason. _

_(5): At the time, Shepard was not aware that she would eventually be nominated for, and receive, the salarian __Silver Dagger medal and the turian Nova Cluster medal. _

(1): A human political party founded after first contact with the turians, which resulted in the First Contact War, Terra Firma opposes humanity's integration into the galactic community out of concern that humanity's individuality, strength and integrity might be compromised. While not explicitly extremist, they tend to attract xenophobes and radicals. They also allow any racist comments from party members to go unchallenged, citing freedom of speech.


	28. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Anderson was quite uninformative in providing details on how he pulled off his part of the caper. All he'd admit to was that Udina was in the office when he arrived, so he 'had to improvise.' I later found out that he strode into the office like a man on a mission—which he was—and didn't slow down once he saw the ambassador. Instead, he walked right up to Udina—ignoring his questions on what Anderson was doing there—and punched his lights out. **(1)** Then he casually reached over and overrode the lockdown while Udina was still slumped on the desk.

As I said, I found that out later. For now, I was just grateful that we didn't get caught.

Joker, on the other hand, was most disappointed. Sort of.

"Aw, damn it. No sign of pursuit? I was hoping the Council would send some ships after us," he complained in mock-disappointment. "I was looking forward to putting the Normandy through its paces. Figured I'd get to see what this ship can really do."

"Saren's still out there," I pointed out. "Maybe you'll get to play hide-and-seek with Sovereign."

Apparently my bit of gallows humour killed the mood. "You know, it doesn't seem like much fun when you say it."

I gave him an apologetic glance and moved on to see how the rest of the crew was doing. Some of them were quite excited. Like Pressly, for example.

"I can't believe we stole the Normandy," he cried out when he saw me. I swear he was this close to jumping up and down in joy. "I know we'll all be court-martialled if this doesn't work out, but part of me _loves _this!"

I didn't have the heart to quash his excitement.

* * *

Others were a little more... quiet. Like Chakwas, Garrus and Tali.

When I asked Dr. Chakwas how she was dealing with this latest twist, she took a minute before responding. "It's strange," she finally replied, "being a fugitive from the Alliance. This crew has sacrificed everything for you, Shepard," she added, looking me in the eye. "Don't let us down."

* * *

Garrus, like Pressly, couldn't believe we'd just swiped the Normandy. At the same time, though, he was a little confused. "After everything you told me, about doing things the right way rather than the fast way... it seems a bit extreme, don't you think?"

"Maybe," I conceded. "But think about how you'd feel if we didn't do it and the Reapers do show up."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he nodded. "If you're wrong, we'll pay for it. But if you're right, and we did nothing, I think we'd regret it a whole lot more. I just hope we catch Saren before they realize we're missing."

"We'll catch him," I said, plastering a confident smile on my face. "Just be ready when we do."

"Yes, Commander."

* * *

Tali found the concept of being 'fugitives on the run' to be very exciting. "I wonder what the Council would do to us if we got caught?" she mused.

"Your father probably has some political pull, right?" I said. "Despite current relations between the quarians and the Council? He wouldn't let them throw his little girl in jail, right?"

Tali laughed. "You don't know my father. Stealing ships is a capital offence amongst my people. He'd probably want to execute us himself."

Great. Just what I needed to hear. "The Normandy's the best ship in the fleet," I replied bravely, trying to convince myself if nothing else. "They'll never catch us."

"I hope you're right," Tali said worriedly.

Adams must have overheard us, because he wandered over to join us. "Heard we're headed into the Terminus Systems, Commander." Just like that. As if it was another walk in the park.

"That's right," I nodded. "Gotta go through a mass relay that's been lost until now in order to chase down Saren."

He patted Tali and I on the shoulder. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "The Normandy's a hell of a ship. She'll get us through this."

* * *

Before I headed back to my quarters, I dropped by to get Wrex's take on things.

"Stealing an Alliance ship? Risky stuff," he pronounced. "But I'm right behind you, Shepard. It's the least I can do."

I snorted. "Everyone else thinks I'm crazy, but they're too polite to admit it."

"Sometimes crazy's the way to go," he shrugged. "I just hope they don't catch us before we get our hands on Saren."

"You and me both," I said.

"You'll get us through, Shepard," Wrex rumbled.

"Thanks," I nodded. "So long, Wrex."

"Shepard."

* * *

With nothing else to do, and an hour to kill before we reached Ilos, I decided to have some fun. Tinkering with the comm systems, I set them to broadcast an old twentieth-century song called "Don't Fear the Reaper" throughout most of the ship. Under the circumstances, it seemed fitting, and it was soothing enough to calm them down.

As for me, I spent my time bunkered up in my quarters listening to random jazz tunes. What can I say: that's what calms _me_ down. Spent the time with my feet propped on the desk; hitting the road with Ray Charles (even though my name isn't Jack), taking the night train with Oscar Peterson, and cruising down Route 66 with Natalie Cole.

I was in the middle of listening to Ella Fitzgerald's rendition of "Mack the Knife" when Joker contacted me over the comm. "Bridge to Commander Shepard. We're five minutes out from the Mu Relay."

"Understood, Joker," I replied. "Contact the other squad members and have them meet me on the bridge." Figured we should all see what we're getting into.

I donned my hardsuit while the song finished up, and then headed up to the bridge. By the time I got there, the other squad members had already arrived. They, along with Pressly, were clustered up in the cockpit. I joined them just before the Normandy passed through the Mu Relay.

Once again, we saw blurred streaks and blue swirls as we were propelled down the corridor created by the mass relay. Then, with a flash of light, we arrived on the outskirts of the Refuge System, ten minutes out from Ilos.

As we approached, Joker started a passive scan of the area. A frown formed on his face. "Uh... Commander? We got company. At least four geth dropships."

"Have their sensors picked us up yet," Liara asked urgently.

Joker shook his head. "Stealth systems are engaged. Unless we get close enough for a visual, they won't have any idea we're here."

"Take us down, Joker," I said. "Lock in on the coordinates."

"Negative on that, Commander," Pressly reported.

Figures.

"The nearest landing zone's two klicks away."

"Are you kidding?" Kaidan burst out. "We'll never make it in time on foot. Get us something closer!"

"There is nowhere closer!" Pressly snapped back, a note of panic in his voice. "I've looked!"

Time for Plan B: "Drop us in the Mako," I ordered.

"You need at least a hundred metres of open terrain to pull off a drop like that," Pressly protested. "The most I can find near Saren is twenty."

"Twenty metres?" Kaidan exclaimed in disbelief. "No way we can make a drop in there."

"We have to try," Liara said nervously

Ignoring her, Kaidan turned to Pressly. "Find another landing zone!" he demanded.

"There is no other landing zone!" Pressly immediately replied, definitely panicking now.

"The descent angle's too steep," Tali observed calmly. I wasn't sure whether she was trying to calm things down or was focusing on the problem at hand to forestall a meltdown.

"It's our only option," Garrus observed.

Kaidan flung his arms up. "It's not an option! It's a _suicide_ run! We don't—"

From out of nowhere, a voice softly interrupted. "I can do it."

I looked over at the direction of our saviour. "Joker?"

Joker, with a determined expression on his face that totally belied his nickname, repeated his earlier words: "I can _do _it."

Good enough for me. It _was _Plan B, after all. "Gera up and head down to the Mako. Joker—drop us right on top of that bastard!"

* * *

About nine minutes later, we were crammed in the Mako. Hardsuits on, weapons readied. The whole kit and caboodle.

"Here are the new team compositions," I said, mostly to pass the time. "Team One will consist of me, Wrex and Tali. Team Two has Garrus and Liara, with Kaidan as team leader."

With Ashley's death—which still sucked, by the way—Team Two faced a serious dip in its combat capacity. Having Garrus move over would provide some much-needed firepower, and some extra tech support to boot. Meanwhile, transferring Tali would offset the drop in my team's tech savvy.

"Commander, we are on final approach," Joker told us. "Drop point in ten. Good luck, guys... five, four, three, two, one..."

And we were off. Plummeting through the atmosphere of Ilos like a meteor, much to my chagrin. We couldn't even hit the micro-thrusters at the usual point. The faster we hit groundside, the better. So I was forced to wait for another agonizing second or two...

Finally, I stabbed the Mako's thruster controls. For a moment, I thought I'd waited too long. I cringed inwardly as the Mako bounced off the surface, rose a bit and bounced some more.

Joker had done it. Not only had we landed without turning into one very expensive pancake, we had touched down in some kind of complex within spitting distance of Saren. I could see Saren and his geth entering a large bunker of some sort. He paused and turned back to look at us, eyes blazing like cold blue stars...

...just before a door slammed shut, cutting us off.

Cursing, we all clambered out.

"We have to get inside this bunker before Saren finds the Conduit," Garrus snapped, slamming his fist on the door in frustration.

Tali had been scanning the door with his omni-tool. Shaking her head, she turned to me. "There's no way we're getting through this door with brute force," she reported.

"Saren found a way to open it," Kaidan pointed out. "There must be some sort of security override somewhere in this complex."

Calming down, Garrus nodded in agreement. "We'll have to find some way to get it up and running again."

At that point, I noticed a little red dot pop up on my HUD, in the opposite direction from the bunker. Followed by another. And another. And they were coming our way.

"Heads up," I barked. "Targets incoming."

The six of us whipped out our weapons, aimed and fired as soon as the enemy popped out from behind a bunch of pillars. One lone trooper. Which quickly got turned to scrap. Followed by another, which met the same fate as the first. Ditto with the next one.

We paused, waiting for the next geth to come. They didn't. So we moved forward.

About a hundred metres into the complex, we entered a courtyard, came under fire again. Taking cover behind pillars, we started firing back at the geth. A couple troopers and a shock trooper, as I recall. We had just taken out the first geth when Kaidan cried out in alarm: "Geth drones on our six! **(2)** Team Two, open fire!"

Thankfully we weren't being pressed too hard, so we could afford to split our fire. Wrex, Tali and I concentrated on the remaining geth infantry in front of us while Kaidan's team tackled the drones behind us. I fired a dozen shots into the shock trooper in front of me, who doubled over and collapsed in a heap. Noting that Wrex and Tali had already taken out the other geth, I turned around, only to see a pair of drones explode into bits.

"I think that's all of them," Kaidan panted.

Looking around, I started to nod...

...then saw a pair of shapes nearby.

My paranoid streak started to stir. "Tali," I said casually, raising my pistol in the general direction of those shapes, "are those things what I think they are?"

Tali took one look and immediately jerked her pistol up. "Armatures!" she yelled.

We immediately swivelled and aimed in unison.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing. They just sat there, huddled up.

Tali scratched her head. Helmet. Whatever. "Maybe they're programmed to activate if a threat comes within a certain radius," she suggested.

I nodded at her... then froze. A particular battle bubbled to the surface of my noggin. Therum. In front of the mine where Liara was held. We were attacked by a pack of geth, including an armature, and then Tali...

Turning to her, I raised an eyebrow. "If we got close enough to activate them, would you also be close enough to hack one of them?"

"Definitely," Tali nodded.

"Okay, do that as soon as possible, then join Wrex and I in firing at the unhacked armature," I decided. "Team Two, put as many holes in the hacked armature as possible."

"You want to attack our ally as well," Liara wanted to confirm.

"Temporary ally," Tali corrected. "Sort of: the hack doesn't actually convert it to our side. It just disables its IFF protocols."

"It'll turn on us as soon as it can't find any other targets," I explained. "It would be best for us if it, or whoever survives, is as damaged as possible." I offered a grin. "Besides, it isn't fair to gang up on one of them like that."

The squad decided to follow my plan rather than address my sense of humour. I'm pleased to report that it went off perfectly, and all of us survived.

Now that we had some breathing room, I had a chance to look around. This entire complex was apparently built by the Protheans. For something that had been around for at least fifty thousand years, it was in remarkably good shape. Constructed of some kind of stone, it surrounded us with large, blocky buildings. Even though they were all covered in vines and leafy growths, the polygonal shape of those structures was unmistakable.

Come to think of it, it seemed very different than the outer area of the Citadel; and the curved, angular shape of the Presidium in particular.

"I never dreamed I would actually find Ilos," Liara marvelled, interrupting my train of thought.

Garrus looked around nervously. "This place feels wrong to me. And not just because of the geth."

"We shouldn't be here," Kaidan agreed. "Not us. Not the geth. Not Saren."

"My people once tried to find this world," Tali said softly. "We hoped we could settle here. None of us knew it would feel so... unwelcome."

Liara looked at them in confusion. "What are you talking about? This place is amazing! I wish I had more time to study all this. So much history here. So much to learn. I only hope I have the chance to come back some day."

I guess she had a point, from an archaeological point of view. It was a fascinating monument to the Protheans. Still, I had to agree with the others: my paranoid streak wouldn't stop yammering. Something seemed really... creepy.

Shrugging, I activated my sensors and did a general sweep of the area. It looked like there were two areas of interest: one up ahead; one to our right. I directed Team One to investigate the former while Team Two checked out the latter.

After I hacked a nearby crate, of course.

* * *

At first, I thought we'd hit a dead end. It looked like an extension of the courtyard that just wrapped around a building. There was a recess built into the building that looked like an elevator of some sort, but neither Tali nor I could figure out how to activate it.

"Over here," Wrex hollered. Pushing aside some overhanging vines, he had found a small alleyway between two of the buildings. As he walked in, Tali and I hastened to catch up.

The alleyway went straight for a while, and then took a left turn. A bunch of statues lay in front of the turn, three on each side. It was hard to make it out, as they were worn down by time and the elements. They looked like thin-faced bipeds in robes, sitting down and leaning slightly forward. And praying. My attention was caught between them and a shrivelled up corpse, curled up in the fetal position.

Moving on, we saw the alleyway turned left again. This time, the wall in front of us was a bit shorter than the others, so I clambered up to take a peek...

...then immediately dropped back down.

"Geth," I whispered, gesturing over my shoulder. "Couple shock troopers at least. Maybe a destroyer."

"Let's keep going," Wrex advised. "See if we can find somewhere with a better vantage point from which to attack."

Sure enough, we went round another corner and came across a ramp. Creeping up, we glimpsed the geth from behind a blocky pillar and some equally blocky half-walls. Below us lay a courtyard, with five shock troopers and a destroyer smack in the middle.

"A lot of people died here," Wrex grunted, nodding at another shrivelled corpse. "Now it's time for a lot of geth to join them."

On the count of three, we popped up and opened fire. Tali disabled the destroyer's weapons while Wrex and I concentrated on the troopers. It was a pretty nice fight, all things considered. We had a lot going for us: high ground, ample cover and the element of surprise. Granted, there were some crates that the geth could hide behind, but we could easily move around them. Heck, the crates fell apart if you pumped enough lead into them.

I was moving on to my second shock trooper when my paranoid streak went berserk. At the same time, I glimpsed something out of the corner of my eye. Turning around, I saw two more shock troopers. Guess they were trying to sneak up on us.

Rather than distract Wrex and Tali, I chose to deal with them myself. I guess it would look good to the civvies—if they ever got clearance to read the reports. Anyone with enough experience would know that the weapons, mods and protection I had was more than capable of dealing with two shock troopers. As long as no one else came sneaking along, that is.

Thankfully, that was the last surprise in this encounter, so we were able to finish mopping up the geth.

Wrex and Tali were all set to go check out the courtyard. I, however, was curious to explore what looked like an elevator. Perks of command: the team goes where you say they go. Sure enough, it was an elevator. It took us up to a ledge overlooking the courtyard and the path we had attacked the geth from. Not much to see.

Other than a crate full of goodies, of course.

Tali sighed as I hacked it open. "I guess you think this was worth the detour."

I pretended to think about it. "Yep," I admitted, grabbing the pistol and shotguns from the now-open crate.

Sighing again, Tali got back in the elevator and waited for me and Wrex to join her. We went back down and started exploring again, continuing along the path that encircled the courtyard. At the far end it went up a hill or gradual incline to a patio. Up we went, sidestepping a broken blocky column...

...at which point we ran right into four geth hoppers.

I'm not sure which group was more surprised: them or us. We shouldn't have been surprised, really, given that our HUDs had been jammed for the last few minutes. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure they started bouncing around and trying to take out our shields at the same time that we opened fire.

Gritting my teeth, I arbitrarily picked one and began wearing down its shields. I didn't have time to select targets, so I was glad to see my teammates select their own geth to pick on. 'My' geth jumped behind a pillar. So I waited, resisting the urge to switch over to 'Wrex's' sapper a couple metres away.

My patience paid off as 'my' hopper hopped back down in front of me, well within spitting distance. Naturally I chose something a little stronger than spit to send its way, before moving on to the last geth.

Once the hopper was down, I opened a comm channel to Kaidan. "Team Two: report."

"Alenko here," Kaidan replied. "Just finished clearing an underground chamber of geth. Nothing serious, but we couldn't find any controls or anything. Though we did find a control that might have disabled the armatures we faced earlier."

Typical.

"We just dealt with a bunch of geth ourselves," I responded, looking around. I saw a glimpse of something behind a pillar. Taking a couple steps to the side to get a better angle, I took a closer look and grinned. "There's an elevator of some sort. Looks like it heads down to another level. Home in on my position and we'll check it out together."

After receiving Kaidan's acknowledgement, we thoroughly searched the courtyard. We only came across one crate to hack open, but it helped pass the time until Team Two showed up. Together, we walked to this new elevator, got in and started going down.

"This place still has power," Garrus commented. "These elevators must be running off an internal generator."

"I bet this is the command centre for the entire complex," Kaidan guessed. "Saren's troops must have sealed the door from here after he went inside."

"We'll have to figure out how to disengage the security lockdown if we want to get inside that bunker," I concluded, just as the elevator doors slid open.

We stepped out of the elevator, into a long narrow tunnel that opened into a large underground cavern to our right. Large vines and bushy leaves blanketed everything as far as the eye could see. Pulling out our weapons, we slowly advanced. It didn't take a genius to figure out that we were all clustered into a narrow fire-lane, easy pickings for any geth ambushers.

Naturally they revealed themselves once we emerged from the tunnel. My paranoid streak started screaming when I glimpsed a geth prime lumber into view, with a destroyer and shock trooper close behind. About fifty metres to our right, I could see another destroyer or two.

Cursing under my breath, I quickly looked around. Going back the way we came wasn't an option, as the geth would have a clear line of sight to blast holes in our backsides. There were a few pockets of debris that could serve as cover in a pinch. Better than nothing, given the circumstances. Then I saw a ramp on either side of the tunnel exit. They were easy to miss, given the dim lighting and the proliferation of flora that camouflaged their presence. Each of them looped overhead and joined each other to form an overpass of sorts.

That's more like it.

"Team Two, up the ramp to the right." I highlighted its location on their HUDs in case they missed it. "Team One, we're taking the left ramp.

We almost didn't make it. At least, _I _almost didn't. A shot from the geth prime's pulse rifle hit me as I was leading the team to the ramp, with enough concussive force to knock me on my ass. In hindsight, I guess I should be grateful—it could have used its rocket launcher. Without a word, Wrex reached down, hauled me to my feet and shoved me in the right direction. All while sending a constant stream of bullets into the prime.

I scrambled up the ramp and onto the overpass, the rest of my team hot on my heels. Team Two had already arrived, and were frantically firing bullets, throwing tech mines and manipulating biotics like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately, despite our having the high ground, the geth were still holding their own. If anything, they were more accurate, firing at a faster rate than normal, and definitely dealing more damage. Stupid geth prime and its stupid combat optimization protocols.

Ducking down to avoid a round from one of the destroyers, I noticed Garrus on the ground in a heap. When did that happen? I quickly accessed his hardsuit systems and scanned his life signs. Nothing more than a mild concussion. Relieved, I pumped some stims and administered some medi-gel to get him back into the fight.

Getting back up, I saw that we'd taken down a couple destroyers and one of the shock troopers. There were still four more geth, though, including that stupid geth prime. To my alarm, I could see a trio of rocket troopers as well.

"Concentrate fire on the rocket troopers," I ordered, not wanting to get blown to smithereens. "After that, tackle the destroyers and shock troopers." Technically it was probably better to deal with the prime. Take it out, and the others would be much easier to tackle. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

The teams managed to take out two of the rocket troopers before the last one fired off a rocket. We ducked down long enough to let it fly harmlessly past us. Then we popped back up and shredded it to pieces. The shock troopers went down just as quickly.

That left two geth: the destroyer and the prime.

At this point, they were close enough to reach with tech mines, and the returning weapons fire had diminished to a point where I could safely issue the following order: "Would someone kindly hack one of those guys?"

Tali was quick to oblige, and the destroyer immediately turned on its former ally. It didn't take long before the prime wore down the destroyer's shields, though. In response, the destroyer charged, and we were treated to our first geth-on-geth rumble.

I wouldn't have minded sitting back and watching this spectacle, but I was busy sending the teams to optimal firing positions so we could take down the prime. Besides, I didn't have any popcorn.

Finally, both geth bit the dust. Breathing a sigh of relief, we went down and started to explore the chamber. The dim light and plant growth that seemed to be ubiquitous around here made it very difficult to see anything. For that matter, it made it tricky to figure out where we were going.

Some things were easy to find, though. Like a quartet of consoles, each with a deactivated geth armature next to it. It didn't take long to determine that we could have used them to boot up the armatures. On our side. Permanently.

Makes sense that we would find them _after _the fighting was over, doesn't it?

Keeping my grumbling to a minimum, I moved on. To my delight, I found another crate to hack for loot. To my further delight, I found another set of ramps, leading up to an overpass identical to the one that had provided refuge for us earlier.

Well, aside from a security console, it was identical.

"Come on," Garrus urged impatiently. "Saren's already got a head start. We have to go find him before he reaches the Conduit."

"Unless he's already found it," Wrex said. "Then we're just walking into a trap."

Kaidan sighed. "That's a chance we'll have to take."

While they were talking, I activated the controls. It only took me a minute to decipher the controls and figure out how to open the bunker.

"Hold on," Tali suddenly said. "Something's happening."

I looked up. Overlapping the green holographic display of the console was another hologram. It looked like an orange blob of curved shapes and lines; rotating back and forth, flickering in and out. There was a lot of static, but I could make out a few words.

"... too late... unable to... invading fleets... no escape..." it said.

"Sounds like some kind of message," Garrus observed. "But I don't recognize the language."

Huh? What were they talking about?

"It is probably in Prothean," Liara guessed. "This recording must be 50 000 years old. No wonder we cannot understand it."

I turned around in confusion. "You can't make it out?"

They looked at me like I'd finally gone crazy. Or that I was crazy all along and they finally figured it out. "You can?" Kaidan asked.

"The message is all broken up, but I recognize some of the words," I told them. "It sounds like a warning about the Reaper invasion."

"Of course!" Liara gasped. "Between the beacons and the Cipher, an understanding of the Prothean language would have been transferred into your mind."

The hologram wasn't quite finished yet. "—not safe... seek refuge... –side the archives..."

"What's it saying?" Garrus asked. "Can you make out anything useful?"

Before I could respond, the hologram spoke again. "—alled Reapers. ...the Citadel. ...overwhelmed... ...only hope."

A different voice took over, though his words were still interrupted by static. "—act of desperation. ...the Conduit... ...all is lost..."

"It said something about refuge and archives, as well as the Citadel and the Conduit," I finally said. "But it's too degraded to help. We should go."

As we left, the hologram got stuck in some kind of loop. It kept repeating the words "cannot be stopped" over and over.

I decided to keep that bit to myself.

* * *

We found another tunnel after leaving the security console station, one that had an elevator at the end. Miraculously, it was the courtyard elevator that was locked earlier, the one with the armatures. We quickly jogged back to the Mako.

"Who votes we take the Mako into the creepy underground bunker," Tali joked as we arrived.

"Good idea," Kaidan said with a straight face. "The firepower will come in handy."

And it'll save us a long walk, I silently added.

We drove through a dusty tunnel clustered with vines or roots for a couple hundred metres, then dropped into some kind of sewer trench. A thin stream of water ran along the bottom. The walls stretched up as far as the eye could see, though there was some kind of illumination shining down and lighting the way.

"I have spent my life studying the Protheans," Liara whispered, "but I never _dreamed_ I would discover anything like this. This bunker might have the last refuge of their entire species. Just imagine what mysteries it might hold. Imagine what secrets it might reveal!"

I didn't have a chance to comment. There was an awful lot of debris scattered along the road. Coupled with the roots that were jutting out at random intervals, and it made for one heck of an uneven driving surface. Plus, we'd just hit another narrow ramp.

"Please," Tali said sharply. "Try to remember why we're here. Saren? The Conduit? The fate of the entire known galaxy?"

Liara was quickly abashed. "I am sorry. I was swept up in the moment. I just hope we have the opportunity to study this place in detail after this is done."

"I thought Saren would have set some kind of trap or ambush for us," Garrus changed the subject. "They must have been in too much of a hurry."

"Or we just haven't run into it yet," Wrex rumbled darkly.

We emerged into another trench with tall, tall walls. As we drove along, I noticed cylinders protruding from the walls, highlighted with a glowing blue oval rim. Come to think of it, I saw a couple of those structures earlier.

I wasn't the only one who saw them. "What are all those things on the wall?" Kaidan asked. "Some kind of containers?"

"They look like stasis pods," Liara guessed. "The Protheans probably tried to keep themselves alive through cryogenic freezing," "Something must have gone wrong. This bunker became their tomb. The pods look dead, along with anyone inside."

"All of them," Tali asked softly, stunned by the implications. "There must be hundreds of those pods."

"What was Saren expecting to find here," Garrus whispered. "There's nothing left but corpses."

Just then, four rockets flashed by, breaking the moment of introspection.

I love rocket troopers.

We fired back immediately, taking two of them out after half a minute of shooting. I was a bit distracted, so I think I can be forgiven for missing the gnarled curling mass of roots jutting out from the wall until the Mako ran right into it.

The Mako immediately jerked to the side, lifting up for a moment before slamming back down. Thank goodness we were all wearing seatbelts.

That accident had a silver lining, though—the remaining geth had apparently fired along our previous trajectory, judging by the rocket that swept past us. If we hadn't bumped into the roots, the rocket would have hit us square on. Not wasting time on providence or any such thing, we sent a MAC round back. Unlike the geth, we didn't miss.

Once I straightened the Mako out, we started driving again. A little more cautiously this time, as our eyes were peeled for more geth.

There weren't any more geth surprises, though. Not for the next kilometre or two.

The only surprise we ran into was a large barrier that had coalesced about fifty metres in front of us. We drove up to it, gradually slowing down to a halt.

"What is happening?" Liara asked.

"It's a trap!" Wrex snapped. "Saren must have set an ambush!"

"I don't think Saren is behind this," Kaidan said, looking out the window.

We followed his gaze. A door in the wall, previously hidden, was retracting before our eyes. Shrugging, I got out and headed for the door, followed by the squad. We entered a small room with an elevator. I glanced around, but couldn't see anything. So, into the elevator we went. I hit the controls, and we started going down.

After a minute, Liara broke the silence. "I have studied the Protheans for decades, but I have never felt this sense of foreboding. What do you think we will find down here?"

"It has to be useful, if it specifically targeted us," Garrus suggested.

"Whatever we find, be careful," I cautioned. "If this was just some automated trap, Saren would have triggered it as well."

The elevator bumped to a stop and opened into a narrow chamber. It was very similar to the trench we were driving along, right down to the roots and vines running down the walls, and the oval-rimmed stasis pods sticking out. The only difference was a catwalk that extended from the elevator doors down to a platform with a console. As we approached, an orange hologram flickered to life. It looked like the hologram we saw earlier, the one that spat out that garbled message. We stopped about a metre from the hologram and waited.

"You are not Prothean," it greeted us without preamble, in a warm male-sounding voice. "But you are not machine, either. This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated. _This_ is why we sent our warning through the beacons."

"Looks like some kind of VI program," Tali deduced. "Pretty badly damaged."

"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you," the hologram continued. "Unlike the other that passed recently. Perhaps there is still hope."

"This is incredible," Liara said excitedly. "An actual Prothean VI, and I can understand it!"

"How come we can understand you?" Kaidan asked. "Why aren't you speaking the Prothean language?"

"I have been monitoring your communications since you arrived at this facility," the hologram explained. "I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend. My name is Vigil. You are safe here, for the moment. But that is likely to change. Soon, nowhere will be safe."

"Vigil, are you some kind of artificial intelligence program?" I asked.

"I am an advanced non-organic analysis system," Vigil replied, "with personality imprints from Ksad Ishan, chief overseer of the Ilos research facility."

"Please**d** to meet you," I said. "Why did you bring us here?"

"You must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years," Vigil said. "But to stop it, you must understand or you will make the same mistakes we did."

"Mistakes?" I frowned. "What mistakes?"

"The Citadel is the heart of your civilization and the seat of government," Vigil began. "As it was with us, and as it has been with every civilization that came before us. But the Citadel is a trap. The station is actually an enormous mass relay. One that links to dark space, the empty void beyond the galaxy's horizon. When the Citadel relay is activated, the Reapers will pour through. And all you know will be destroyed."

"Hang on," I raised a hand to stop the hologram. "How come nobody ever noticed the Citadel was an inactive mass relay?"

"The Reapers are careful to keep the greatest secrets of the Citadel hidden. That is why they created a species of seemingly benign organic caretakers."

"The keepers," I guessed with dawning realization.

"Exactly," Vigil confirmed. "The keepers maintain the station's most basic functions. They enable any species that discover the Citadel to use it without fully understanding the technology. Reliance on the keepers ensures no other species will ever discover the Citadel's true nature. Not until the relay is activated and the Reapers invade." **(3) **

"How do the Reapers survive out in dark space?" I asked.

"We have only theories," Vigil replied. "The researchers here came to believe the Reapers enter prolonged states of inactivity to conserve energy. This allows them to survive the thousands and thousands of years it takes for organic civilization to rebuild itself. But in this state, they are vulnerable. By retreating beyond the edges of the galaxy, they ensure no one will accidentally discover them. They keep their existence hidden until the Citadel relay is activated."

"At which point, the Reapers pour in and we're all screwed," I said. I thought back to my last meeting with TPTB, and the plan they had laid out, and swore. "The Reapers will be able to wipe out the Council and the entire Citadel fleet in a single surprise attack!"

"That was our fate," Vigil admitted. "Our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack. The Reapers seized control of the Citadel and, through it, the mass relays. Communication and transportation across our empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the others. Easy prey for the Reaper fleets.

"Over the next decades, the Reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."

"Some of you must have managed to survive," I pointed out.

"Through the Citadel, the Reapers had access to all our records, maps, census data," Vigil explained. "Information is power, and they knew everything about us. Their fleets advanced across every settled region of the galaxy. Some worlds were utterly destroyed. Others were conquered, their populations enslaved. These indoctrinated servants became sleeper agents under Reaper control. Taken in as refugees by other Protheans, they betrayed them to the machines.

"Within a few centuries, the Reapers had killed or enslaved every Prothean in the galaxy. They were relentless, brutal and absolutely thorough."

"What do the Reapers get out of this?" I asked, hoping Vigil would be more accommodating than Sovereign. "Why do they keep repeating this pattern of genocide over and over?"

"The Reapers are alien, unknowable. Perhaps they need slaves or resources," Vigil speculated. "More likely, they are driven by motives and goals organic beings cannot hope to comprehend. In the end, what does it matter? Your survival depends on stopping them, not in understanding them."

Maybe so, but I wasn't done yet. "Where did the Reapers go after they conquered your people?"

"Our worlds were stripped bare, harvested by the indoctrinated slaves," Vigil replied. "Everything of value—all resources, all technology—was taken. Certain that all advanced organic life had been extinguished, the Reapers retreated back through the Citadel relay into dark space, sealing it behind them. All evidence of the Reaper invasion had been wiped away.

"Only their indoctrinated slaves were left behind... abandoned. Mindless husks, incapable of independent thought, the indoctrinated soon starved or died of exposure. The genocide of the Protheans was complete."

"You said you brought me here for a reason," I prompted. "Tell me what I need to do."

"The Conduit is the key," Vigil said. "Before the Reapers attacked, we Protheans were on the cusp on unlocking the mysteries behind mass relay technology. Ilos was a top secret facility. Here, researchers worked to create a small-scale version of a mass relay. One that linked directly to the Citadel: the hub of the relay network.

"So the Conduit's not a weapon," Tali realized. "It's a back door onto the Citadel!"

I nodded absently, one thing still bugging me. "How did you manage to stay hidden?"

"All official records of our project were destroyed in the initial attack on the Citadel. While the Prothean empire came crashing down, Ilos was spared. We severed all communication with the outside and our facility went dark. The personnel retreated underground into these archives. To conserve resources, everyone was put into cryogenic stasis. I was programmed to monitor the facility and wake the staff when the danger had passed.

"But the genocide of an entire species is a long, slow process. Years passed. Decades, centuries. The Reapers persisted. And my energy reserves were dwindling."

"So how did you survive?" I asked.

"I began to disable the life support of non-essential personnel," Vigil admitted. "First support staff, then security. One by one, their pods were shut down to conserve energy. Eventually, only the stasis pods of the top scientists remained active. Even these were in danger of failing when the Reapers finally retreated back through the Citadel relay."

"There were hundreds of stasis pods out there!" Kaidan burst out. "You just shut them down? You killed them?"

"You couldn't let everyone die," I recognized, painfully reminded of Ashley. "Better to sacrifice some so others could live."

"This outcome was not completely unforeseen," Vigil revealed. "My actions were a result of contingency programming entered on my creation."

Wrex snorted. "I bet they didn't tell the 'non-essential' staff about this contingency."

"I saved key personnel," Vigil emphasized. "When the Reapers retreated, the top researchers were still alive. My actions are the only reason any hope remains."

"Go on," I prompted.

"When the researchers awoke, they realized the Prothean species was doomed. There were only a dozen individuals left—far too few to sustain a viable population."

That sucks.

"Yet they vowed to find some way to stop the Reapers from returning," Vigil continued. "A way to break the cycle forever. And they knew the keepers were the key."

"Didn't you just say the keepers were under the control of the Reapers?" I objected.

"The keepers are controlled by the Citadel," Vigil corrected me. "Before each invasion, a signal is sent through the station compelling the keepers to activate the Citadel relay. After decades of feverish study, the scientists discovered a way to alter this signal. Using the Conduit, they gained access to the Citadel and made the modifications. This time, when Sovereign sent the signal to the Citadel, the keepers ignored it. The Reapers remained trapped in dark space."

"Saren must have some plan to undo everything they did," I guessed.

"The one you call Saren will use the Conduit to bypass the Citadel's defences," Vigil confirmed. "Once inside, he will transfer control of the station to Sovereign. Sovereign will override the Citadel's systems and manually open the relay. And the cycle of extinction will begin again."

"I'll stop Saren," I said firmly. "Just tell me how."

"There's a data file in my console," Vigil revealed. "Take a copy when you go. When you reach the Citadel's master control unit, upload it to the station. It will corrupt the Citadel's security protocols and give you temporary control over the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign."

"Wait," Garrus interrupted. "Where's the Citadel's master control unit? I've never heard of anything like that."

"Through the Conduit," Vigil replied. "Follow Saren. He will lead you to your destination."

"Just a few more questions," I said. "What were the beacons for, exactly?"

"At our apex, the beacons spanned the breadth of our empire," Vigil replied. "We used them as a single galaxy-wide network to transmit data and communications rapidly from world to world. Virtually all the beacons were destroyed during the invasion. But once the Reapers were gone, the survivors here on Ilos decided to risk sending out a message.

"We knew it was unlikely there were other survivors. But if there were, we wanted them to know about Ilos. We wanted to give them hope. So a message was sent across the network. In truth, we didn't expect any of the beacons would still function, but we had to try. If there were survivors, we had to reach them.

"The message was meant for our own people. It was coded so only organic beings could interpret it. We still didn't understand the power of Reaper indoctrination. We never realized it could lead an agent of the machines—like Saren—to this world. But it has also led you here. So perhaps we did not fail after all."

Next question: "You mentioned earlier that the Reapers are trapped in dark space. How did Sovereign get here?"

"It is logical to assume the Reapers would leave one of their own behind after each extinction, a sentinel to pave the way for their inevitable return," Vigil speculated. "Like those in dark space, Sovereign probably spent most of the last 50 000 years in a state of hibernation. Periodically, it would wake to evaluate the state of galactic civilization. And, when the time was right, it would signal the Citadel and usher in the next Reaper invasion.

"But this time, the signal failed. The keepers did not respond. Sovereign's allies were trapped in the void. Alone, it was forced to try and discover what had gone wrong."

No wonder Sovereign was so chatty: it'd been spending the past 50 000 years all alone. "Speaking of which, did the Reapers create the keepers when they were first constructing the Citadel?"

Vigil was quick to answer this question too. I guess it was feeling chatty as well. "A more likely hypothesis is that the keepers were one of the early harvested civilizations. Perhaps the very first. Perhaps they responded well to indoctrination or the Reapers simply bred them to be obedient. In any case, they only respond to the signals emitted by the Citadel itself. When the Reapers altered the Citadel's signals, they broke Sovereign's hold over the keepers. Now they are completely harmless."

"I guess that was when Sovereign realized that organic races were a bit difficult to control," I said wryly.

"A likely hypothesis," Vigil agreed. "The keepers evolved in an unanticipated direction. Non-organic servants, like the ones following Saren, would be more predictable."

"One last question: what happened to the survivors from the 'Conduit Project'?"

"They used the Conduit to gain access to the Citadel, but the Conduit is only a prototype. The portal only links in one direction, so they were trapped on the station. I do not know what became of them then. It is unlikely that they found any food or water on the station. I fear they suffered a slow, grim death.

"I only know they succeeded in their mission to seal the relay. Your presence here proves their sacrifice was not in vain."

"Saren's got enough of a head start," I decided, downloading the data file to my omni-tool. "Let's go!"

"Shepard, are you sure?" Liara asked, raising a hand. "Who knows how much longer Vigil will be here? Even now the projection is weak. This might be our only chance to speak with it—our only link to the knowledge of the Protheans! It is the opportunity of a lifetime!" **(4)**

Oh for crying out loud.

"I'm sorry, Liara," I replied, quite patiently under the circumstances. "We have to stop Saren. Nothing else matters."

I'm not sure whether it was my response, or the incredulous looks everyone else was giving her. Whatever it was, Liara caved in. "You are right. I am sorry. My personal feelings clouded my judgement. We... we should go."

Vigil had one more thing to tell us before we departed: "The one you call Saren has not reached the Conduit. Not yet. There is still hope if you hurry."

No pressure, right?

* * *

It was a rather silent and depressing ride up the elevator.

"So many races look up to the Protheans as paragons of civilization," Garrus murmured.

"All their culture, all their advanced technology, and the Protheans were taken in by the Reapers, just as we were," Liara added sadly. "They failed."

"Just like my people," Tali nodded. "But they also gave us a chance to save ourselves. We must hurry!"

"Keep it moving," Wrex agreed. "I've got no intention of ending up like them."

We ran for the Mako as soon as the elevator doors opened, threw ourselves in and took off in a jiffy.

And promptly crashed into the wall. This trench was _not _conducive to easy driving and manouvering, especially with something as difficult to steer as the Mako.

Gritting my teeth, I managed to get the Mako back on course. The way it was weaving back and forth, any observer would have guessed that I'd had a few too many drinks.

The way I ran over a couple rocket troopers at the next bend would have convinced them for sure.

According to the sensors, there were two more rocket troopers out there. I tried to get the Mako in reverse so we could blow them to smithereens. All I got for my trouble were a bunch of wheels spinning in futility and another round of shots hitting our shields.

"Everyone get out," I finally ordered. It would be faster to take them out on foot, I'd guessed.

Sure enough, that did the trick. The geth couldn't use their rocket launchers, and by the time they switched to their backup weapons, we were already pumping lead into their synthetic bodies.

"Guess we'll try that trick next time," Kaidan panted.

"Yep," I agreed. "Back in the Mako, everyone."

With a groan, the squad obeyed. A few judicious blasts with the micro-thrusters and we were free to continue on our way. We drove round the corner, drove right off a ledge, and landed on the next level of the trench—ten metres down. It's a testament to all those missions I spent driving the Mako up (and off) mountains that no one raised any fuss to this drop.

The next cluster of geth came around the next corner. They were a fair ways away, so we could easily shoot them at range with the MAC cannon.

The colossus that was accompanying them, though, required a more... direct approach. Stomping on the pedal, I drove straight at it. With an audible crunch, we hit it with enough force to knock it on its knees. Backing up to get some distance, we unloaded everything the Mako had at it. Rinse, repeat, game over.

As far as I recall, the remainder of the trip was rather routine. I just drove along, trying to keep the Mako on some semblance of a straight course, weaving around the odd block of debris or tree root until we saw a rocket or two that inevitably came blazing our way. Then we just hopped over it, or gritted our teeth and let them drain our shields, before returning the favour.

The fact that I look upon those memories with such blasé nonchalance is probably a clear indicator that I need my head examined.

At last, we reached another tunnel, its roof overgrown with vines and roots. It sloped down before opening up at what looked like a large chamber with a bright light. As we got closer, we saw the source of the light.

Vigil wasn't kidding—the Protheans had done it. They had actually built their own mass relay, something no other civilization had done since the Reapers decided to start their ongoing cycle of fun and kicks.

"There it is," Liara shouted excitedly. "The Conduit! By the Goddess, it is incredible!"

"We don't have time to admire the view," Wrex barked. "We have to get through that relay, and those geth aren't gonna make it easy on us!"

Looking closer, I felt my heart sink. There were at least two armature-class units guarding the Conduit. This was gonna be fun.

"Oh Keelah."

Aw, crap. Whatever Tali found out, I was pretty sure it wouldn't be good.

"Shepard, if these readings are accurate, the Conduit was activated a short time ago. Saren must have already gone through."

Aw, crap. I hate it when I'm right.

"Any other good news?" I asked sarcastically.

"The mass effect fields around the Conduit are destabilizing. I estimate we have less than forty-five seconds to get to the Conduit before it shuts down."

And good luck figuring out how to reactivate it in time. Especially with geth shooting at us.

Once more for good measure: Aw. Crap.

"Hang on!" I yelled, putting the pedal to the metal. "This is gonna get a little rough!"

Forty seconds...

It figured. It just figured. Why would the universe make things easy for me when it was so much more fun to make it difficult.

Thirty-five seconds...

And not just difficult. No, it had to go for suicidal-difficult.

Thirty seconds...

We burst out of the tunnel. I saw a trickling stream weave back and forth around low hills before leading to the Conduit. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to follow the road. Not with the clock ticking.

Especially not with the geth Saren left behind. Which weren't a pair of armatures, by the way. They were four colossi.

Naturally.

Twenty-five seconds...

Biting back a curse, I pressed even harder on the pedal. We had no choice but to run the gauntlet. We didn't even have time to jump n' shoot at the colossi. Nope, we'd just have to hope that our shields held out long enough. Because it's too much to ask that the targeting algorithms the geth used would suddenly go nuts.

Twenty seconds...

We bounced over the hill, feeling our velocity slow down even with that brief trip in the air. We also felt at least two siege pulses from the geth hit our shields.

I knew it. The universe just wouldn't give me a break.

Fifteen seconds...

Two hills down. One more to go. Shields at 25%.

Aw, crap.

Ten seconds...

As we got closer, we could see the Conduit. It really was a miniature mass relay, about four stories tall, its tuning fork-like arms directed vertically rather than horizontally like its larger cousins. Its rings were steadily spinning, revolving around a pulsing sphere of blue energy.

Nine seconds...

We cleared the last hill, but not before a succession of shots drained the last of our shields. One more hit, and we were toast.

Eight seconds...

Okay, when I said the universe wouldn't give me a break, I didn't mean for it to be listening or anything!

Seven seconds...

Of all the time for it to be paying attention.

Six seconds...

See, this is why I prefer being a sniper.

Five seconds...

Stay far away from the action.

Four seconds...

Watch heads explode and bodies drop from nice safe distances.

Three seconds...

No danger, unlike now.

Two seconds...

No stress, unlike now.

One second...

No—

There was a flash of light, a sudden jolt as if a giant had kicked the Mako up in the air...

* * *

_(1): While I would have preferred that Shepard left that particular detail out, I must confess to a certain amount of satisfaction in the act. _

_(2): Alliance parlance often refers to analog clock faces, with 'twelve o'clock' designating in front or straight ahead. 'Covering one's six' or is Alliance military slang for watching the rear or guarding one's back._

_(3): Every time I read this, I cannot help but wince in chagrin at how every civilization, past and present, were willing to just sit back and take what was so handily offered to them without so much as a question. Some things are truly universal. _

_(4): Indeed, when Citadel teams were sent to Ilos, they were unable to activate Vigil. It must have used its last reserves to communicate with Shepard and his team. _


	29. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

...I had the strangest sensation of flying yet not flying...

...another flash of light...

...the distinct impression of a pair of geth suddenly rushing towards us...

...and a blast of pain as the Mako came to a sudden, violent stop, but our bodies insisted on moving forward. The seatbelts were the only thing that kept us from becoming pancakes of metal, ceramic and blood.

Well, at least it would have been expensive pancakes. Groaning, I unbuckled the seatbelt...

...and promptly fell on my head. Apparently we were upside down.

I squirmed my way to the nearest window, which had shattered from the impact, and squeezed my way out. The others slowly followed, their thuds and curses telling me they made the same mistake I did. Wincing in pain, I stood up and looked around.

First thing I saw was the Mako. Believe it or not, it was in pretty good shape. Oh the windows were broken, and there were a couple crumpled plates of armour. The wheels were all askew, and there were sparks merrily flying from the undercarriage. But aside from that, it was more or less intact.

Next, I looked around. We made it. We were on the Citadel. In the Presidium, to be exact. The last time I was here, there were clean white lights everywhere, illuminating a chamber that seemed to stretch to eternity. Now, the only lights came from stubborn emergency lights that refused to go out and the random areas that had caught fire. Smoke covered the air above us in a murky haze, while chunks of debris or fallen rubble lay all around us.

Finally, I turned back in the direction that we had come from. I saw the pair of geth troopers I had glimpsed earlier, now nothing more than Mako roadkill. One of them was ripped in half. Beyond them lay a certain sculpture.

The Relay Monument. It wasn't some monument to Prothean vanity. It wasn't a symbol of the Prothean empire. It wasn't even a sign of unity.

It was the partner relay to the Conduit.

And it had been sitting here for fifty thousand years, under the noses of every sentient being who had walked past it.

"Shepard," Kaidan said, interrupting my musings. "We're all okay here. What are your orders?"

I thought about what Vigil said. About a 'master control unit.' Where would such a thing be? I looked around, trying to get some inspiration...

...then saw a certain elevator. One that led to the Citadel Tower.

"You know," I replied, pointing up, "I'm willing to bet that the master control unit is located in the Council Chambers."

Everyone turned to follow my finger. "Good place to start," Wrex nodded.

Now that we had a place to go, we headed for the elevator. We had covered about half the distance when we noticed a trio of dragon's teeth that weren't there when we escaped the lockdown. Each of them had a husk, complete with glowing implants, dangling from its spike.

With a howling sound, the dragon's teeth retracted. That was the only warning we needed. Even as the husks pulled themselves off the teeth, we were already firing our weapons. We managed to take one down before the rest started charging at us, and none of them got close enough to do any damage.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I was about to resume my direction to the elevator when I saw Avina. The vertical data streams that ran inside her holographic shell were moving more haphazardly than usual. Her head switching positions; sometimes facing forward, sometimes backwards. And when her head wasn't going all wonky, her entire body was definitely flickering in and out.

But as far as I could tell, she was still functional. Mostly. And that meant she could provide some answers.

"Critical failure," she was saying automatically. "System malfunctions detected across—"

"What's going on here," I interrupted.

"The Presidium is experiencing severe system malfunctions across the entire level," Avina responded. All non-emergency personnel must evacuate immediately."

"Give me a run-down of the damage," I ordered.

Avina leaned to the side like someone who couldn't hold her liquor, blinked out, and then reappeared facing the wrong direction. "We have lost all primary power to the level," said the back of her head. "I am also detecting numerous unauthorized synthetic life-forms throughout the station. They are believed to be hostile. Please approach with caution."

Only Avina could report all these disasters and make them sound like business as usual. "Where's Saren?" I asked.

"Former Spectre agent Saren Arterius is nearing the vicinity of the Council Chambers." Avina flickered again, now giving us a profile shot. Waving her arm up and down, she added "A warrant has been issued for his arrest, though Citadel Security is unable to respond at this time."

"What happened to Captain Anderson? And Ambassador Udina?"

"I have no information on the status of specific individuals," Avina replied. "Once the current crisis has been resolved, a complete accounting of casualties and survivors will begin."

Was I missing anything? Nothing important, I decided. Still, while I was here...

"What happened to the Council?" **(1)**

"In accordance with standard emergency procedures, the Council has been evacuated to the Destiny Ascension."

"Come on," I said to my squad. "We need to stop Saren before it's too late."

We left Avina, who started telling anyone within earshot to begin emergency evacuations, and entered the elevator. Stabbing the controls, the doors closed and we started to rise.

* * *

For once, the elevator didn't have any annoying music, nor did it have any disgustingly cheerful news sound bites. It was all nice and relaxing, in a tense sort of way...

...and then the elevator screeched to a halt.

I later learned that Sovereign had just latched onto the Citadel Tower, shut down all primary systems—including the elevators—and closed the Citadel arms. Ironically, Citadel Control had tried to close the arms earlier to prevent Sovereign or any other intruder from getting in. Now, all Sovereign had to do was wait for Saren to transfer manual control of the Citadel to it, and it could activate the mass relay function and bring in the Reapers.

Of course, I didn't know that. All I knew was that we were stuck halfway up the elevator and going nowhere fast.

"Saren's locked down the elevator!" I said, grabbing my pistol. "Suit up—we're going outside!" I glanced at Tali, who was already hermetically sealed and corrected myself: "Everyone who isn't _already_ suited up, that is." **(2)** As soon as they had complied, I fired at the elevator doors, thankful that they were composed of glass. Thick glass, but glass nonetheless. It shattered outwards and gently floated away, confirming my theory that the area outside was vacuum and vindicating the caution behind my previous order.

One by one, we all stepped out of the elevator and swung ourselves to the Citadel walls, the mag-locks on our feet clamping down as soon as they made contact. While we oriented ourselves to the new 'floor', I accessed the Citadel schematics on my omni-tool. It took a while for the micro-computers to figure out our location, but it eventually created a suitable map for us.

Leading the way, we started moving 'up' the Citadel Tower along the elevator shaft. After a hundred metres or so, we went down a ramp and into a corridor of some sort. Part of some maintenance shaft, I guess. Glass panels ran along the left, forming a wall of sorts.

Suddenly, one of the panels in front of us exploded outwards.

Not needing any further warning, we grabbed our weapons and started firing blindly. The first geth trooper to step out ran right into our barrage and went down, as did the next one. The remaining two troopers managed to find cover and started to return fire.

"Team Two: take the right one," I yelled. Our weapons blazed as they riddled the troopers with holes.

That blaze was so bright, in fact, that we missed the rockets flying our way until they exploded against our shields.

Ignoring my shield status—which had dramatically plummeted to a mere 20%-I looked up. A trio of rocket troopers had broken through another glass panel at the end of the corridor. Glancing around, I saw that Team Two was still busy tackling their trooper. Which meant we were the only ones who could tackle this latest threat. Naturally.

"Team One, with me," I snapped. Wrex and Tali dutifully followed me as I charged the rocket troopers, weaving from side to side to avoid the rockets. If we could get close to them, they would be forced to switch to their pulse rifles or use their launchers as clubs. Either option was infinitely preferable to eating a rocket.

Eschewing finesse, Wrex sprinted the last few metres, knocking one rocket trooper aside and ramming another into the wall. Tali and I silently agreed to fire on the last one standing. It jerked spasmodically under the barrage of our pistols before collapsing in a heap. We turned our weapons on the last one, who had gotten to its feet by now, only to get crushed by who-knows-how-many-pounds of krogan.

Now that that was over with, we waited for Team Two to catch up before moving on. We headed up a ramp and into another shaft, one with structures protruding out from the left at regular intervals. They were intended to be platforms for people who _weren't _going up the walls. For now, they only served to block our field of view, so I started running along a bunch of cables that were laid down to our right.

It didn't take long before we bumped into another trooper, which we quickly dispatched. A krogan was right behind it. He had just enough time to snarl before someone lifted him up using biotics. Without any gravity to hold him down, he just kept going up and up and up.

Since he was no longer a threat, we stopped paying attention to him. _**. **_We had other concerns. Like the destroyer that had just stepped out in front of us. I immediately opened fire, not wanting it to start charging us. The others quickly followed suit and the destroyer disintegrated under our onslaught.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I ran to the end of the shaft and stopped, wondering where to go next. The patter of gunfire against our shields answered my question. Turning right, I saw another ramp heading up. I saw a couple walls of hexagonal barriers erected halfway, each with a geth trooper behind it. Good protection against someone without any weapons whatsoever. A minor obstacle for everyone else.

Quickly dealing with those guys, we ran up the ramp, past the barriers, and onto a large flat part of the Tower. Relatively flat, I silently amended, seeing the small dips and protrusions that sprinkled its surface.

I'll admit I was still a bit unused to this kind of terrain. It's been years since I had zero-gee combat training. That's the only excuse I can think of for focusing on getting my bearings instead of watching out for hostiles.

Like the pair of shock troopers that I kind of blundered into.

I stumbled back, reflexively firing off a shot that shattered the flashlight on one of the troopers.

"Nice one," Kaidan complimented me as they destroyed the other one.

I nodded absently, not bothering to correct him. My kill shot wouldn't have been possible if someone else hadn't worn down its shields first, but if he wanted to give me the credit, so be it. I looked around and consulted the map on my omni-tool.

"Okay, we're heading that way to our left," I said, bringing up the map on everyone's HUD. "Down a corridor and onto part of the Citadel Exterior Defence Grid. Which we'll recognize by the large turrets. And if anyone asks 'Are we there yet' along the way, I'll shoot you myself."

Well, I wouldn't. Bad for my rep, and I couldn't afford to shoot anyone who could still walk and shoot. But it served to relieve the tension. After everyone laughed, we headed off.

No sooner did we enter the corridor than we saw a pair of shock troopers. Naturally, everyone started firing. Naturally, the shock troopers fired back.

Naturally a geth destroyer appeared out of nowhere and started charging while we were occupied.

Hastily, I switched targets. "Team One on the destroyer," I yelled.

Judging by the sheer barrage of shots that impacted against the destroyer's shields, I'm pretty sure Team Two joined in on the fun. Meh. As long as they didn't mind taking a bit of fire from the shock troopers, I wasn't complaining.

The destroyer couldn't stand up to that much firepower and was swiftly taken out. Its body floated past us, as inert as whatever it was made of. Ducking to avoid that floating piece of scrap—it would be hilarious if I avoided getting killed by its weapons, only to get beaned because I couldn't get out of its way—I resumed fire on the shock troopers.

Once they were taken care of, we moved on. We had made it halfway down the corridor when another destroyer showed up at the far end. It paused long enough to see us and then started to charge. I glimpsed a blue flare around Liara out of the corner of my eye, and then saw the destroyer lift off. It slowly rose for a second before a second round of biotics sent it rocketing off into the distance.

Thankfully, we only faced one more destroyer—and dispatched it without too many bruises—before we reached the Citadel defence grid. Looking up, I saw a geth dropship swoop overhead.

I frowned. Something wasn't right. I looked at it for a second before it hit me.

The defence grid's turrets weren't firing. Sovereign must have shut them down.

Quickly, I ran through my options. Tali was probably the best hacker, but her hardsuit wouldn't last long against the weapons fire she was bound to attract. Same with Kaidan. Garrus could probably survive, but he wasn't the best hacker.

Repressing a couple choice words, I made my decision: "I'm going to reactivate those turrets. Everyone else, cover me!"

Without waiting for their confirmations, I charged for the nearest turret. That one started up without a hitch.

Naturally, the next one wasn't so accommodating. I had to actually go through a song-and-dance to hack the damn thing. With gunfire blaring in the background. And a couple shots pinging off my shields.

I tapped in another sequence and crowed as the turret booted up. Then I ran for the third one, which thankfully didn't require more than a quick reboot.

Looking around, I couldn't see any more turrets. At least, none within easy reach. Shrugging, I grabbed my pistol and joined the squad in firing at the shock troopers that were pouring out of the dropship.

For a few minutes, I wondered whether my efforts were for naught. The damn dropship kept raining geth on us like some malevolent storm. Still, I did see flashes as rockets flew from the turrets to impact against its shields.

Finally, the dropship soared off, smoke billowing from it like the Mako on a bad day.

"Where to, Commander," Garrus panted.

"Up ahead to our left," I said after a moment's consultation. "We'll go along a corridor before taking a left onto... well, it would look like a courtyard to us. There's a maintenance shaft leading to the emergency access hatch to the Council Chambers, which we can enter at two points: one halfway to the left of the 'courtyard'; one at the far end."

"It is so good to have options after all our trials," Liara replied. I could swear I heard a note of sarcasm in her voice.

"Right," I finally said, deciding to take her words at face value. "Move out."

* * *

Of course, there just _had _to be enemies stationed along those areas as well.

I was reminded of the last corridor we encountered. The ones with a pair of shock troopers that we started dealing with before a destroyer showed up.

This corridor was exactly the same. Only there were krogan waiting for us instead of shock troopers.

Again, we had time to fire off a round or two before the destroyer showed up. We must have looked really impressive, because the krogan ducked behind some cover rather than joining the destroyer in its charge. That was probably the only thing that saved us from a messy, and definitely fatal, pounding.

"Kaidan," I called out, his name being the first biotic to come to mind. The lieutenant obliged with a manipulation of biotics that sent the destroyer twirling up and out of sight. _**.**_

Now that that distraction was out of the way: "Team Two, pin the krogan down. Team One with me."

The krogan were now stuck. If they popped out of cover, they would take heavy fire. If they stayed put, they wouldn't see up sneak into firing range until it was too late. I suppose I should feel sorry for them. Heck, I've been in similar straits myself.

Nah, I decided, unloading my pistol on the nearest krogan. He flinched, raising his assault rifle. Then he ducked back, having moved a bit too far into Team Two's line of sight. The poor sap then had to figure out whether to fire at the human, the krogan or the quarian.

Judging by Tali's muffled curses; I guess he picked the latter. Unfortunately, he'd waited too long to make his decision. He was only able to fire a few rounds before one of us landed the kill shot.

"Leapfrog," I radioed, hoping the squad would figure it out.

They did. Wrex and I laid down covering fire while simultaneously moving to the right so Team Two could sneak by us and attack the remaining krogan. A minute later, I heard a cry of victory from Garrus, followed shortly by the second krogan slumping to the ground.

Then a geth juggernaut appeared at the far end. It fired a shot that took out Garrus's shields in one hit, then charged.

"Kaidan," I called out again.

"Liara," he called in return. I guess he wasn't ready for another round yet. Fortunately Liara was, and the juggernaut quickly joined its destroyer friend in floating off to who-knows-where. As long as it didn't come back to haunt me—and it didn't, for once—I was comfortable in my ignorance.

Without any further interruptions, we ran to the end of the corridor. We rounded the corner, took one look...

...and hastily dove back. Four turrets, each protected by a trio of hexagonal barriers. Clearly the geth had brought more to this fight than infantry.

"Sniper time," I pronounced, exchanging my pistol for my sniper rifle. Garrus followed suit. He was the only one, as no one else had the necessary training. Again, I missed Ashley. Her sniper rifle was sorely missed. **(3)**

"On three," I said.

"On three," Garrus confirmed.

"One, two, thr—" We started to step out and raise our sniper rifles, then hastily ducked back in time to dodge a rocket. We'd stepped out a bit too far. At least we managed to confirm the firing lanes of those turrets.

"On three," I said again.

"But only far enough to target the far right turret," Garrus added.

On the count of three, we leaned out and fired. One shot took out the central hexagonal shield, allowing the second to score a direct hit. We waited a second, long enough to confirm that we hadn't destroyed it, then ducked back.

"One more round oughta do it," I commented as a rocket slammed into the wall.

"Three more turrets to go after that," Garrus nodded.

"This is getting boring," Wrex grumbled. "It's going to take forever for you guys to finish."

Wrex was wrong: it didn't take forever. Just ten minutes. Ten painfully, frustratingly long minutes.

Once the final turret had exploded to smithereens, I looked back at the squad. Switching back to my pistol, I brought up the map on everyone's HUD. "We have two routes to the Council Chambers," I repeated, "across the courtyard and through the last bit of the maintenance shaft, or down along the entire length of the maintenance shaft."

"Both will probably be guarded," Wrex said. I noticed he had chosen his shotgun. Guess he wanted to get up close and personal.

"What are the chances that they won't follow us?" Kaidan asked sceptically.

Everyone had a doubtful look on their face. Well, I couldn't see Tali's expression, but I'm sure it was the same.

"Take your pick, Kaidan" I offered.

He shrugged. "I can take Team Two along the courtyard route," he chose.

"Then Team One will go through the maintenance shaft," I concluded. "Whichever team reaches the access hatch first waits for the other," I added. "Might as well go in together."

"And if the other team got pinned down? Or worse?" Wrex asked, voicing the unspoken question floating in front of us.

"Wait five minutes," I decided. "If no one shows up, try to contact the other team over the comm. If there's no response, then don't bother waiting. Got that?"

Everybody nodded. "Good. Let's go."

We headed out, my team peeling off after a minute for the maintenance shaft. Behind us, we could hear gunfire. Guess Team Two ran into trouble. I squelched the urge to double back. We'd agreed on a plan, and we had to trust that everyone could do their part. If not... well, there were other things to worry about.

The first third of the shaft was pure vanilla. Nice, peaceful, no problems.

So we weren't entirely surprised when we picked up some contacts up ahead on our HUDs, which turned out to be a pair of krogan.

We immediately opened fire, taking one out before they knew what hit them. The other one, wisely, ducked behind some cover before he took too much damage.

"Suppressive fire," I ordered. "Keep him pinned down."

While Wrex and Tali obeyed, I started to sneak forward. Hopefully, one solid with my sniper rifle would do the trick.

I had just found a line-of-sight to the krogan and was lining up my shot when Wrex shouted: "Shepard! Look out!"

My target looked up, belatedly realizing how close I was. Too late: at such close range, I didn't need a headshot to drop him.

Any elation I might have felt was quickly swept away when a huge fist came out of nowhere and slammed me into the wall.

In an instant, my shields blinked out. I'm pretty sure my hardsuit cracked as well. Either that, or my ribs. With my luck, probably both. Dropping my now-useless sniper rifle, I scrabbled for my pistol, only to be lifted up in the air. I felt the krogan, the latest one to join the party, crushing me in its arms for a moment before it flipped me over and drove me headfirst into the ground.

"Shepard," I heard over the comm. "It's Kaidan. Do you read me?"

"Not now!" I rasped, trying to scramble away from the krogan. He paused, perhaps wondering whether I was talking to him or not.

That bought Wrex enough time to send him flying a couple metres away with his biotics. Breathing a sigh of relief, I got to my knees and picked up my sniper rifle. One nice shot ensured that he wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon.

"Shepard!" Liara cried out.

Oh for crying out loud. Now what?

Looking up, I saw yet another krogan. One surrounded by a halo of blue energy.

Great. Another krogan battlemaster. Why couldn't Wrex be the only one?

"You know, this is really getting old," I told him, knocking out his shields with a tech mine.

He started to move towards me, then slowed down, impeded by the hail of bullets from Wrex and Tali.

"I just want to finish this damn mission and get some shuteye," I continued, driving him back with a shot from my sniper rifle.

"Is that too much to ask?" I continued, waiting for my sniper rifle to cool down.

The krogan battlemaster scowled at me and took a step forward. Then another. And another.

And then I jammed my sniper rifle into his forehead and pulled the trigger.

"It's like I'm talking to myself," I muttered as he fell.

Looking around, I was surprised to find that there were no more enemies, krogan or otherwise. Motioning for Wrex and Tali to follow, I continued towards the access hatch. As we ran, I activated my comm. "Kaidan," I said. "Hold on. We're on our way."

Kaidan had an apologetic look on his face when we arrived.

"Bad timing, huh?" he asked rhetorically.

"Something like that," I replied. "Sounded like you ran into some trouble as well."

"Four geth troopers," he shrugged. "Nothing we couldn't handle."

Tali turned her head towards me, probably with an exasperated look under her visor. "We had four as well," she said. "Four _krogan_, to be exact."

"You sure know how to have a good time, Shepard" Garrus chuckled. He stopped when Tali whipped her head towards him.

"Damn straight, C-Sec," Wrex stated.

At that point, I coughed. Figured I'd bought enough time for everyone to regenerate their shields and catch their breath. When I got everyone's attention, I motioned towards the access hatch at our feet.

"Shall we?" I asked.

* * *

We emerged from the hatch into the Council Chambers, directly in front of the elevator. It seemed a bit more claustrophobic than the last time I was here. Probably because of the patches of fire that had sprung up on the branches of the trees. And the debris piled up here and there. We could hear a roaring sound in the background, possibly from the intensity of the fire.

Using hand-motions, I directed the squad forward towards the first set of stairs. We silently advanced, our eyes peeled for the smallest sign of trouble.

Which was probably why I saw the silhouette of a geth trooper through the smoke.

Grabbing my sniper rifle, I zoomed in on its head and fired. It immediately collapsed. Minus its head, that is.

Gunfire rang out immediately as the geth realized they were under attack. We were quick to respond.

"Team One, up the stairs and go left; Team Two go right," I directed.

With the efficiency that could only come from getting shot at way too many times, we split up in unison. Geth troopers popped up, only to go down as the teams fired simultaneously. Moving onto the main foyer, I peered through the haze of smoke and the glare of multiple fires, trying to spot the next threat.

The impacts of bullets off my shields suggested I might want to look to my left.

Following this little hint, I saw a trio of shock troopers who had taken refuge behind a barricade. As I watched, one of them let off a pulse that decimated my shields.

Cursing, I immediately ran to the side, zig-zagging to thwart their attempts to lock on again. As I did so, I rerouted power to restore my shields. "Wrex, Tali—cover me," I snapped.

While their barrage kept the shock troopers' flashlight heads down, I was free to flank them. Pulling out my pistol, I opened fire. One down... two down...

By that point, the third shock trooper had started firing back. It couldn't move forward, as that wouldn't get it out of my line of sight. It couldn't stand up, as that would just open itself up to more fire. And it couldn't retreat... mainly because Wrex had sneaked up behind it and was firing his shotgun at point-blank range.

Sneaky bastard.

"Clear," he reported.

Looking around, I confirmed Wrex's assessment.

"Clear," Kaidan called out.

"Let's head up and give Saren a surprise," I said over the comm. That bit of caution was probably pointless, as the little gunfight had probably clued him in to our presence. Still, it never hurts.

We sprinted up the multiple sets of stairs towards the dais where we normally had our frustrating chats with TPTB. It was extended a little farther than usual, with a large holographic display floating vertically from waist to eye level. The master control unit, I presumed.

No Saren, though. So why was my paranoid streak buzzing?

My ears picked up a familiar whirring sound, which answered that question.

A second later, Saren floated up on his little platform, tossing a grenade our way. We hastily dove for cover, and the grenade exploded harmlessly.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard," he called out.

"Had to wipe out a few hundred of your followers along the way," I retorted. "Sorry if I kept you waiting."

"You've lost," Saren chuckled. "You know that, don't you? In a few minutes, Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel's systems. The relay will open. The Reapers will return."

"I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," I said. Like Vigil's data-file, for example. All I had to do was get to the master control unit and upload it from my omni-tool. It was only ten metres away. Might as well be ten light years, with Saren hovering around.

Saren chuckled again. "You survived our encounter on Virmire. But I've changed since then. Improved. Sovereign has... upgraded me."

It was all I could do to restrain myself from poking my head out and staring at him in disbelief. "You let Sovereign _implant _you," I asked incredulously. "Are you insane? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I suppose I should thank you, Shepard," Saren replied. "After Virmire, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. About Sovereign manipulating me. About indoctrination. The doubt began to eat away at me. Sovereign sensed my hesitation. I was implanted to strengthen my resolve."

Huh. So the BS I spewed back on the AA tower actually counted. Maybe there was a Spectre inside there after all.

"Now my doubts are gone," Saren continued. "I believe in Sovereign completely. I understand that the Reapers need organics. Join us and Sovereign will find a place for you, too."

"Oh for crying out loud," I burst out. "Sovereign's controlling you through your implants! Don't you see that?"

"I see a symbiotic relationship," he replied. "Organic and machine intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future, Shepard. The evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth!"

"I'd rather die than live like that," I snapped.

"Then you will die," Saren pronounced. "And your companions. Everyone you know and love. Everyone you've ever met. Don't you understand? You will _all _die!

"The Reapers cannot be stopped. Not by the Protheans. Not by you. The cycle always continues."

"Sovereign hasn't won yet," I retorted. "I can stop it from taking control of the station! Step aside and the invasion will never happen! The cycle will finally be broken!"

"We can't stop it!" he snapped frantically. "You saw the visions. You saw what happened to the Protheans. The Reapers are too powerful."

"No they're not," I replied. "Some part of you knows that, or you wouldn't start questioning your actions after Virmire. Some part you realized this was wrong then, and is still wrong now. You can fight this!"

There was a minute of silence. Then...

"Maybe you're right," Saren said slowly. "Maybe there is still a chance for... unh!" He broke off with a cry. Taking a chance, I peeked around the corner. Saren was clutching his side, his face in a grimace of pain.

"The implants," he realized. "Sovereign is too strong. I'm sorry. It's too late for me. You will have to stop it without me."

Taking a chance, I got to my feet and faced him. "It's not over yet," I told him. "You can still redeem yourself!" **(4)**

Then I waited. The next move—whether to fight us or help us—was his. He knew that. Though with Sovereign exerting control through those implants, Saren might be more of a hindrance than help.

He knew that too.

"Goodbye, Shepard," Saren said. "Thank you."

With that, he raised his pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. A burst of blue blood came out the other side. He stood there for a moment, gently swaying to some unseen breeze, before toppling off his platform. He crashed through the panes of glass underneath us and plunged to the level below.

* * *

I would have liked to confirm Saren's death, but I didn't have the luxury of time. Instead, I quickly moved to the master control unit and uploaded the data file. After a second, I heard a confirmatory chirp.

"Vigil's data file worked," I reported. "I've got control of all systems."

"Quick! Open the station's arms," Wrex urged. "Maybe the fleet can take Sovereign down before he regains control of the station!"

"Wait! See if you can open a communications channel first!" Kaidan said.

I followed Kaidan's lead. We could get a sitrep on the battle outside, and maybe coordinate an attack on Sovereign.

"...the Destiny Ascension," was the first thing we heard. Apparently the Ascension was broadcasting on all channels. "Main drives offline. Kinetic barriers down 40%. The Council is on board. I repeat: the Council is on board."

To our relief, the next voice came from Joker. "Normandy to the Citadel. Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Commander."

"I'm here, Joker," I replied.

"We caught that distress call, Commander. I'm sitting here in the Andura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet." **(5)**

I couldn't help but whistle in admiration. Mobilizing the entire fleet like that wasn't easy. Guess all those times I helped Hackett out finally paid off, if he was willing to take that action based on the Normandy's reports. 

"We can save the Ascension," Joker continued. "Just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in!"

"You'd sacrifice human lives to save the Council?" Wrex snorted. "What have they ever done for your kind?"

"This is bigger than humanity!" Kaidan argued.

"Sovereign's a threat to every organic species in the galaxy," Tali added.

Garrus shook his head. "That's why you can't throw away reinforcements trying to save the Council. You need to save every ship you have. Hold them back until the Citadel arms open up and the fleet can go after Sovereign."

"What's the order, Commander! Come in now to save the Ascension or hold back?"

Why ask me, I wondered. Isn't Admiral Hackett there to make the big decisions? **(6)**

Sighing, I considered my options. It _did _make sense to sacrifice the Council. With the geth focused on the Ascension and the other Citadel Fleet ships, the Alliance would be free to go after Sovereign. Besides, TPTB had been a pain in the ass since day one.

On the other hand, if I pulled their hides out of the fire, the look on their faces would be priceless.

"I'm opening the relay arms now, Joker," I finally replied. "We need to save the Ascension—no matter what the cost."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Shepard," Wrex rumbled.

"Me too," I admitted. Tapping the controls, I unlocked the relays, then started on opening the ward arms. That was trickier than you'd expect.

As I worked, I heard Admiral Hackett's voice. Guess I left the comm channel open. "Alliance ships, move in," he ordered. "Save the Destiny Ascension."

I entered in a few more commands. Still nothing.

"Destiny Ascension, you are all clear," we heard Joker report. "Repeat—you are all clear."

Ignoring the thanks coming from the Ascension, I tried another command sequence. This one finally did the trick. Looking up, I saw the arms start to open. A minute later, Hackett's voice came over the comm again. "The Citadel's opening! All ships, move in. Concentrate on Sovereign!"

Closing the comm channel, I turned around, I walked over to the rail and leaned over. I could see Saren's body on the grassy knoll below, a large shard of glass impaling his torso to the ground. "Make sure he's dead," I told Wrex.

A cold fire erupted in Wrex's eyes. He immediately jumped down, followed shortly by Tali. Watching overhead, I saw him stride over, pull out his pistol and fire a round through Saren's skull at point blank range.

"He's dead," Tali confirmed, albeit unnecessarily.

That roaring sound I heard earlier suddenly intensified. Red bursts of lightning suddenly started to dance along the walls. With a flash, a stream of red energy surged out and hit Saren's body. It started to writhe and dance, pieces of flesh and armour disintegrating under this bombardment of energy. I swear I could hear Saren groaning from the onslaught.

Before we could do anything, a fiery red wave exploded from Saren's body. Wrex and Tali were sent flying. The ramp we were on suddenly collapsed, sending the rest of us sliding down to the floor below. Rolling over, Saren rose to his fleet. He staggered forward, the red energy burning him out from the inside.

As I watched, the last bits of Saren shredded away, leaving behind a charred skeleton, interlaced with a network of implants whose blue glow contrasted with the red energy crackling along this eldritch frame.

"I am Sovereign," it pronounced, "and this station is mine."

Aw, crap. Apparently Sovereign had one last trump card to play as well.

Sovereign/Saren suddenly crouched, then jumped at me. I ducked just in time to avoid his talons. Turning around, I saw him/it land on the ground, his/its limbs splayed like a geth hopper.

A hopper...

"Liara," I yelled, seizing on the idea that had just surfaced. "Get that thing in the air!"

Liara immediately complied, and Sovereign's latest pet suddenly became a flailing, floating menace.

"Keep it up as long as you can!" I exhorted. "Start knocking out its shields, people! Open fire!"

This strategy, admittedly one born of desperation, turned out to be the right one. As long as that creepy horror vid-reject stayed up in the air, it was helpless. We slowly whittled down its shields as it drifted in front of us. Every time it went down, we let it rise to its feet before sending it back up.

Pausing, I started a scan on our adversary. Integrity down to 25%. Shields down... wait...

To my consternation, I saw him/it replenish its shields to full strength. Probably the same way we could. At least it hadn't regenerated the physical damage we had inflicted. Yet.

"Keep firing!" I urged. I dropped my pistol, pulled off my sniper rifle, and fired off a shot. To my dismay, while my shot took out 40% of his/its shields, it also overloaded my sniper rifle. The heat sinks were also completely shot, I guessed, judging by the fact that my rifle didn't start cooling down. Tossing it aside, I scooped up my pistol and resumed firing.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally wore him/it down. Sovereign's little avatar collapsed to a heap. A burst of red energy flared out, disintegrating him/it to a pile of ash.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Everyone okay," I asked.

Everyone nodded at me or gave a verbal confirmation.

A flash of light caught our attention. Looking up through the windows of the Council Chambers, we could see the various ships of the Arcturus fleet, swooping around Sovereign like fleas buzzing around a goliath. As we watched, we saw Sovereign explode. The shockwave hit the Citadel like a krogan fist, shaking it to its foundations.

We cheered, letting loose the relief that stemmed from months and months of frustration. Like a bunch of noobs who just completed Basic, we just stood there and stared, watching as the once-mighty Reaper slowly expanded into a pile of debris.

Debris like the really large one, merrily spiralling as it flew our way.

Aw, crap.

"Go!" was the only thing I managed to yell.

There was a shattering sound as that piece of debris punched through the windows and slammed into the Council Chambers.

_

* * *

_

(1): I will not speculate on Shepard's designation of the Citadel Council as 'nothing important.'

_(2): Technically, everyone was already wearing hardsuits. What Shepard actually meant was for his squad members to put their helmets on and establish an air-tight seal. _

_(3): A clear example of how Shepard's rationalization for protecting his own life had become second nature, masking how he had to set aside his feelings for Chief Williams's passing in the heat of battle._

_(4): While I did not have much contact with Saren, he struck me as an individual who followed through with his decisions once he made them. Shepard's ability to bring Saren round to his way of thinking, even with Sovereign's implants, is truly impressive, and part of what makes him such an effective leader. _

_(5): Admiral Hackett was in charge of the Fifth Fleet. It was commonly referred to as the Arcturus fleet, given that it was stationed around Arcturus Station. _

_(6): While Hackett was in charge, Shepard had on-site field intelligence of the situation, and thus was in the best position to advise on the appropriate course of action._


	30. Interlude

**Interlude**

_Editorial Note: Shepard summarizes the hour after the defeat of Saren and Sovereign with a certain amount of brevity. Rather than present his usual commentary, I've chosen to insert my own account—as well as the events before, during and after the geth invasion—to give it the attention it deserves. _

After I overrode the Normandy's lockdown, I went back to my quarters. I figured that Udina would want to arrest me once he came to. If I was lucky, he'd settle for house arrest. Subtler than sending C-Sec to arrest me on the Presidium and less likely to generate headlines. In the meantime, I could write up an AAR of my own. To get the reasons for my actions out there before Udina or the Council could whitewash everything.

After sending off the AAR, I decided to grab a few winks. One of the things about military life that you never hear from the recruitment ads: get sleep whenever you can—unless you're on duty. You never know when you'll get another chance. To my surprise, I slept for a full six hours. Getting up, I checked my e-mail. Aside from the usual spam, the only thing of note was a message from Udina:

_Anderson,_

_I can't afford to have you sitting around right now. To borrow your parlance, I need 'all hands on deck.'_

_Get back to the embassy immediately._

_Udina_

Translation: Udina didn't want to risk even the miniscule amount of attention that might come from house arrest, and he needed another set of hands. Might as well kill two birds with one stone. 

So I went back to the embassy. Udina wasn't there. I wasn't sure why until I read the daily itinerary. I'd forgotten the negotiations between the Alliance and the Salarian Union were scheduled for today. The lead negotiator, Elias Keeler, had bowed out at the last moment to enter rehab. Udina didn't want to bring the competency of his replacement in question by assuming control of the talks himself, but he wanted to sit in to provide support if needed.

That left me to hold down the fort. Mindless work, for the most part—mostly forwarding complaints and requests to the appropriate parties, while fielding the occasional question. What tourist attractions did I recommend? Where was the nearest restaurant? Where could one find the schedule for the intra-Citadel transit shuttles? What was the best recipe to make lamb curry?

At the earliest opportunity, I set up a real-time connection with Admiral Hackett on Arcturus Station. If I had calculated the time differences correctly, he would have just arrived at his office.

To my relief, Hackett flickered onto one of the holo-viewers.

"David," he greeted me. "Have you decided to request stress leave from your latest posting?"

We chuckled. Hackett and I had become close friends ever since we started the search and nomination for Shepard to become the first human Spectre. He had offered a sympathetic ear when he heard about the circumstances under which I lost captaincy of the Normandy, knowing all too well the machinations that could occur in politics and how difficult it was to deal with Udina. He had told me several times that if I needed a break, I had only to ask.

"Not yet, Steven," I replied, getting to business.

"Then this is about Shepard's allegations about the Reapers."

"Shepard is telling the truth. And he seems to be the only one in a position to stop them," I said firmly.

"With your help," Hackett added pointedly.

"Yes, sir," I admitted.

Hackett typed something on his console, and then looked up at me. "I've selected two of the judges for your court-martial," he told me. "I've worked with them before, and they're quite reasonable. One of them is on a month-long honeymoon, the other one is recovering from a major surgical procedure."

In other words, I wouldn't have to answer for my actions until after Shepard succeeded. Unless he failed, in which case my court-martial would be the last thing on anyone's mind. "I appreciate you keeping me informed," I thanked him.

"One more thing," I added, before Hackett could cut the connection. "Even if Shepard can stop the Reapers, he may not catch up to Saren in time."

"What do you propose, David?" Hackett asked.

I'd been thinking about this for a while now. There was only one option that made any sense: "Mobilize the Fifth fleet."

To his credit, Hackett didn't look surprised. He had probably come to the same conclusion. "Are you sure about this?"

"If Sovereign and the geth attack the Citadel, the Council will need reinforcements. We don't have time to start gathering a fleet after the fact, and it's suicide to send ships in piecemeal. The Fifth Fleet is already gathered off of Arcturus, so it will be easy to put them on alert."

"Most of them are here," Hackett corrected. "The Perugia is in the Armstrong cluster dropping off garrison reinforcements, and the Madrid is in the middle of her shakedown cruise." He offered a slight grin. "Nice peaceful journey from Arcturus Station to Eden Prime and back."

I smiled back, remembering the Normandy's aborted shakedown cruise.

"I'll recall them immediately," Hackett decided. "Meanwhile, my staff has been drawing up combat drills against the geth. I think I'll have the Fifth Fleet try them out."

"Thank you, Steven," I nodded. It was a great relief to know that someone else was taking this seriously.

"Relax, David," Hackett told me. "Shepard will be fine."

"I hope so."

"Did Shepard ever tell you about his assignment to Chohe," he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Chohe? In the Hades Gamma cluster? No, he didn't," I shook my head.

Hackett chuckled. "I'm not surprised. A group of biotic extremists holed up in an Alliance research facility on Chohe. They drugged the scientists with hallucinogens and were using them as human shields. I sent Shepard in a couple weeks ago to resolve the situation, hopefully with a minimum of casualties."

"I assume things went well," I guessed.

"And then some," he nodded. "Shepard managed to take out all the extremists without a _single_ civilian casualty."

My eyebrows jerked up at that point. Even by Shepard's standards, this was quite the accomplishment, and I said as much.

"That's what I told him," Hackett said. "You know what he said? 'Just doing my job, Admiral. I couldn't let innocent lives be lost.'" He chuckled again. "I told him I wish every soldier had his definition of 'just doing his job.'"

I smiled. "Shepard's one of a kind."

"Exactly." Hackett leaned towards me. "So don't you worry, David. Shepard will see this through."

"Yes, Admiral."

I finished my remaining work, the smile still on my face. I wasn't surprised at Shepard downplaying his accomplishment. That modesty, which sometimes bordered on overkill, seemed entirely in character for my former XO. Logging off, I left the office...

...then staggered as the entire Citadel shook. The lights cut out. After a second, the emergency light came to life. They flickered as the Citadel shook again and again.

It had finally happened. Despite everything I did, everything _Shepard _did, we were too late. Sovereign, Saren and the geth had arrived. We were under attack.

Cursing, I raced back to check the other embassies. They were empty. The only person I saw was our receptionist, Saphyria. She was sprawled on the floor, her head at an unnatural angle. Looking ahead, I saw the rest of the area was buried under debris.

"Attention, all non-emergency personnel," Avina interrupted my thoughts. Looking at her, I saw that the bombardment was affecting her systems as well, as she was flickering and jerking about. "Please begin emergency evacuations immediately. This is not a drill."

It went against the grain to just abandon ship, but it wasn't my place to stay and search for wounded. The Citadel wasn't my ship, and my responsibilities in this situation were clear in their simplicity—evacuate at once. I had already stretched things as far as possible by doubling back to check the nearby embassies.

With a reluctant look around, I ran for my designated evac point. The longer I ran, the more systems failed, equipment exploded and lights sputtered. By the time I arrived at the evac shuttle bay assigned to the area of the Presidium where the human embassy was situated, there was more illumination from sparking electrical panels and fires than the emergency lights.

In front of me, evacuees from various races were trickling into the evac shuttles. All but two: Ambassador Udina and Din Korlack, ambassador for the volus. The latter was standing in front of one of the evac shuttles and showed no intention of moving.

"We have to leave now!" Udina was yelling. "We're under attack!"

"A likely story... _*hiss*_ ...Earth-clan," Din Korlack retorted, his habitual rudeness and disdain coming through despite the hissing of his pressure suit's breather.

"Story?" Udina cried out incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It seems more likely that this is a human trick," Din Korlack sniffed. "First... _*hiss*_ ...humans gain so much favour in establishing themselves in the galaxy, despite causing so much havoc and suffering during the Relay 314 Incident. Then you get an embassy, within a decade of exploding onto the galactic stage. One of your clan... _*hiss*_ ...is elevated to the august ranks of the Spectres. And you humans are favoured to become the next race to join the Council. Your kind has gained more in the last few decades than everything my people have _earned_ during two thousand years of toil. And now... _*hiss*_ ...now you presume to order me around. This is probably a human trick, to distract the other races while you pillage and plunder unhindered."

Din Korlack's concerns were a common viewpoint amongst the volus, though few were as blunt as the ambassador. His people had made a name for themselves by establishing the Unified Banking Act, which set the credit as the standard galactic currency, and setting fair conversion rates between the credit and other alien currencies. They were the first to be awarded an embassy on the Citadel. Despite that, they had not performed any act or deed that provided an 'extraordinary service to the Citadel', nor were they capable of providing fleets, resources and economic aid in the event of a disaster. These conditions, while not official, were unspoken prerequisites to being offered a set on the Council.

Din Korlack knew that. His diatribe of all the ways that the volus had been wronged, particularly by the human newcomers, was nothing new. To blame this attack as an overly complicated plot to steal, however, that was a new low. 

Udina reddened. "Now listen here, you overstuffed gasbag," he snapped. "This has nothing to do with humanity. You know that damn well, and to say otherwise just shows how pathetic you are. Or maybe you don't know that, in which case you're just stupid. Either way, I've wasted enough time here. You want to stay here and guard your pitiful belongings, be my guest. But _don't _block the way!"

With that, Udina actually shoved the volus ambassador aside and stormed onboard. He was followed by a score of humans and a scattering of salarians and asari. All of whom gave Din Korlack a dirty look. Those glances only intensified when he deigned to join them. I managed to hop onboard just before the evac shuttle departed.

The shuttle was designed to hold about twenty people, but there were a lot more than that crammed inside. As a result, it took me a while to get to a viewport. I took one look... and winced.

The Citadel Fleet was frantically firing at an armada of geth ships, and was getting slaughtered in the process. The painful truth was that the geth had far more ships than the Citadel Fleet. On the surface, that meant they had a lot more firepower. In addition, that many geth concentrated in one area equated to an incredible amount of processing and networking capacity, which clearly translated to an incredible degree of tactical coordination. Most of the geth were busy taking out ship after ship. The rest were busy pummelling the Destiny Ascension. Judging by the trail of plasma leaking from its flank, the geth had been doing so for quite some time.

The next thing I saw took my breath away. An enormous dreadnought, larger than any I'd ever seen before, stormed through the firefight. It dwarfed even the Destiny Ascension with its sheer size. Like some squid-like leviathan from the nightmares of that old human author Lovecraft, it plowed inexorably through any ship unlucky enough to stand in its way.

That must have been Sovereign. I tracked its course...

...and gulped. Sovereign was making a bee-line straight for the Citadel. Its arms were closing, but it was clear that it wouldn't do so before Sovereign arrived. Sure enough, Sovereign swooped inside just as the Citadel's arms closed, swallowing the Reaper up.

Now what were we going to do?

"Anderson."

It was Udina. Extending a datapad out at me.

"I need you to help me do a tally. Figure out who's on this shuttle. You take the front. I'll take the back."

I'll grant the ambassador this much: he didn't spend any time cursing me on assaulting him, or insisting that my career was finished. Instead, he'd rather channel his energies into doing something. In this case, something that was a reasonable use of our time. I figured the least I could do was reciprocate by not pointing out that Shepard could have stopped this were it not for his interference. Or the fact that the proper terminology was 'bow' and 'stern.' Besides, it would take my mind off the disturbing image I had just seen.

The tally took almost two hours. Mostly because the sheer number of people crammed into the shuttle made it very difficult to move. More importantly, most of those people were scared out of their minds, and I had to spend a great deal of time trying to boost morale. I said as much when I met up with Udina again.

He nodded. Apparently he had done the same thing.

Then came an uncomfortable silence. We'd always discussed work whenever we got together. None of us knew what else to talk about. Looking for inspiration, I glanced out the viewport.

Just in time to see an Alliance cruiser take out a pair of geth ships. And another one take out three more. And a certain prototype frigate that I used to command weave back and forth to take out the six geth ships that were closest to the Destiny Ascension.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed.

Udina craned his head to peer out the viewport himself. "Ah yes. Looks like Shepard succeeded."

I whipped my head around so fast, I thought I had given myself whiplash. "Come again, Ambassador?"

"Shepard. Somehow he made it back to the Citadel and unlocked the mass relays. On his order, Admiral Hackett deployed the Arcturus Fleet to protect the Destiny Ascension." He must have seen the confusion on my face. "I've been using my diplomatic clearance to tap into some of the Alliance comm frequencies."

Belatedly, I realized I could have done the same with my military clearance. Using my omni-tool, I opened a channel just in time to hear Admiral Hackett: "The Citadel's opening! All ships, move in. Concentrate on Sovereign!"

Most of the geth ships had been destroyed by this point, having been out-flanked by the wave of fresh, undamaged reinforcements. Those reinforcements were now swarming into the Citadel, whose arms were indeed opening up. The remnants of the Citadel Fleet didn't bother joining them, being as badly damaged as they were. Instead, they dedicated themselves to picking off the remaining geth ships.

Udina frowned in concentration as he tried to follow what happened next. "Is it me, or does it sound like the fleet isn't having much luck breaking through Sovereign's defences?" he asked after ten minutes or so.

I couldn't help but be impressed. Tracking multiple conversations at once and picking out the salient points isn't easy. Up until now, the only people I had met who were capable of that feat were senior command-level officers. Apparently, high-ranking diplomats could also acquire that particular skill. "That's my understanding as well," I nodded. "Its barriers must be—"

A sudden screech interrupted me, deafening me with its high pitch. Judging by Udina's pained expression, he'd experienced the same thing. "What the hell?" he asked.

"Either Sovereign is jamming the comm frequencies, or one of the Alliance ships using the comm frequency we were on just got destroyed," I said, quickly switching to another comm frequency. The reports that were coming in were disheartening to say the least. "Sovereign's fighting back," I summarized.

"And has taken out three Alliance cruisers within a minute," Udina added. He paused for a moment, then winced.

"What?"

"I'm trying to decide which is going to be harder," he replied. "Dealing with the bureaucratic nightmare that'll follow if we survive this, or writing all those condolence letters to the families of the Alliance personnel who just got killed."

I bit back my immediate retort that it was obviously the latter. The last several months had shown me just how painful and trying the diplomatic life could be. Udina's suggestion that the two options were comparable was probably the sincerest compliment he could offer, under the circumstances.

We listened in silence as the one-sided battle within the Citadel continued. Four ships had been destroyed now.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

And then...

"Its shields are down!" Joker cried out. "Now's our chance!"

I think those were the most beautiful words I had ever heard.

"Hit it with everything we've got!" Hackett ordered calmly, as if he was ordering steak at his usual haunt on Arcturus Station.

"Hard on my flank!" Joker immediately called out. "We're going in!"

Udina and I held our breath and waited. I was starting to see spots in front of my eyes when another loud sound burst through.

It wasn't static this time. Or the screech of ships exploding.

It was cheering.

We had done it.

We had won.

* * *

I would later find out that we had won, but at a terrible cost. The Citadel Fleet was severely crippled. And the Fifth Fleet had lost eight cruisers, along with their entire crews.

The casualties hadn't been restricted to space alone. The other evac shuttles had submitted their tallies, and it was obvious that thousands and thousands of people had been trapped on the Citadel. Search teams were already being organized.

Udina wanted me to head up one of the search teams. In fact, he wanted me to join a _specific _search team. At first, I didn't understand why he was so fixated on that particular team. I said as much.

"Sovereign's explosion created a lot of debris, which hit a lot of areas on the Citadel," Udina said. "One of those places was the Citadel Tower."

"Okay..." I said slowly.

"We traced Shepard's transmission to the Council Chambers," Udina explained. "In the Tower. We don't know if he and his squad made it out of there or not."

My heart sank.

"I thought you might be interested in lending a hand," Udina was saying. "Unless you want to go somewhere else?"

That might have been the nicest thing the ambassador had ever done for me.

* * *

When I arrived at the Council Chambers, I barely recognized it. Fires everywhere. Smoke filling the air. And the debris.

The debris was everywhere. Large chunks. Small chunks. Curved pieces that vaguely resembled limbs. Elongated pieces that could have been mistaken for columns. The only thing they had in common was their dark blue-black hue.

That and the fact that they were all embedded into the floor.

I quickly plotted a search grid and divided the team into pairs. My partner and I had just started digging ourselves when someone cried out "Captain Anderson! We've found them! They're in here!"

A blond human C-Sec officer had found survivors underneath two curved pieces of Sovereign's hull. By some miracle, they had formed a tent of sorts above them, shielding them from the rest of the debris. Hunching over, I crawled in.

"Take it easy," I soothed. "It's over. You're safe now."

My eyes quickly identified them as Shepard's team. Lt. Alenko, who had stood by Shepard's side since Eden Prime. Garrus Vakarian, the turian C-Sec officer who had tried to investigate Shepard's claim of Saren's corruption. Tali'Zorah, the quarian who had provided the proof that proved Saren's guilt. A krogan who I recognized from Shepard's reports as Urdnot Wrex. And an asari who could only have been Dr. T'Soni.

"Where's the commander?" I asked urgently. "Where's Shepard?"

A bleak look swept over everyone's face. Except Wrex. He just turned his head and stared off into the distance before dropping his head sadly. I followed his gaze and saw a particularly large shard of metal, one that had landed with enough force to punch a crater into the floor.

My heart sank.

Silently, I gestured for Shepard's squad to join me. The rest of the search team could continue sifting through the debris, but we needed a moment to...

I couldn't bring myself to finish that thought. Instead, seeing that Wrex was swaying on his feet, I moved to give him some support. Swinging his arm over my shoulder, I tried not to buckle under his weight. Slowly, we shuffled to the nearest exit.

Just before we left, I paused and glanced back. I stared at the devastation that lay before me, the fires that marred the Council Chambers with its harsh light, the smoke that covered everything in its stifling haze, the man that briefly appeared as he ran down a flight of stairs...

I blinked.

I moved out from under Wrex's arm and took a step forward.

The man appeared again. Rather than weave around a hill of debris, he scaled it, climbing his way to the top.

It was Shepard.

His hardsuit had several dents and gashes in it. And he had a very firm grip on the ribs on the left side of his body.

But it was definitely Shepard.

And he was definitely alive.

My heart soared.

The commander paused for a moment and stared at us. For a moment, I wondered if he was striking some sort of pose. He certainly made quite a heroic figure; standing proudly on top of Sovereign's remains the way he did.

Then the moment was over. Shepard slowly made his way down the mound and limped his way over to us. Despite his obvious injuries, he couldn't resist letting a small grin slip out.

Neither could I.


	31. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_Author's Note: It's been almost a year since this little exercise first started, evolving from a way to get some ideas out of my head into a full-fledged novelization. One of the greatest joys of this is the feedback I got from readers who enjoyed my interpretation of Shepard. So I'd like to take this opportunity to offer a sincere "Thank you" to everyone who has posted reviews._

_To all those reviewers who have asked, I am planning anything similar for Mass Effect 2, which I have decided to call "The Hero We Deserve". I must warn you that it will be some time before it's ready, mostly because I'm still playing through the game, getting ideas on what Shepard might note and pondering how he might react to the latest life-threatening situation. Therefore, I'll borrow something from Blizzard Entertainment's playbook to answer the inevitable follow-up question of when readers can expect to see The Hero We Deserve:_

"_When it's ready."_

_And now, without further ado, the conclusion to Accidental Hero of the Galaxy._

* * *

I didn't really see much of the squad after what some dimwit was already calling "The Battle of the Citadel." **(1)** For starters, I had suffered some internal bruising and bleeding. Nothing too serious by modern medical standards, but it did require a few hours of initial observation. Dr. Chakwas insisted I stay for an additional thirty-six hours of observation, 'just to make sure'. Trust me; you do _not _want to go toe-to-toe with her on medical matters. I tried, and I still have nightmares over that encounter. Not that I'll admit it, of course. Bad for my rep.

Anyways, by the time I got out, everyone was neck-deep in work.

Kaidan was working his ass off handling the day-to-day operations of the Normandy. While I was slacking off in sickbay, Pressly assumed my duties as acting captain. Which meant someone had to take _his _place as XO. As exasperated as he might have been with all the paperwork, I think Kaidan was relieved to be doing something other than trying to fix that malfunctioning display panel for the umpteenth time.

Garrus had gone back to C-Sec. Officially, his resignation had been 'buried under paperwork' and had never been filed. Instead, he'd been on paid vacation this entire time—apparently, Garrus had never taken a single day off since he joined C-Sec, and subsequently accrued a _heck _of a lot of time. Anyways, the Citadel was in such a state of chaos—what with people searching for loved ones, workers trying to assess or jury-rig fixes, and looters doing what they do best—that C-Sec needed every able body they could find.

Tali was helping to fix some of the other ships that had limped into dock and had suffered more damage to the Normandy... which meant every other ship out there. She faced some resistance at first, what with her being a quarian and concerns that she was 'stealing' other people's hard-earned jobs. However, that quickly evaporated when she demonstrated her competency. I believe the turning point was when the captain of some ship caught the chief engineer having sex with some civvie instead of fixing the engines. The chief engineer insisted that the problem lay with the power regulators, which were hopelessly fused. Tali correctly identified the real problem as a misaligned valve and fixed it within a minute. The chief engineer was subsequently demoted, with a formal reprimand placed in his record to boot.

Wrex spent virtually all of his time on the command deck. According to Pressly, he marched up after I came out of surgery, demanded access to the comm room, and never came out. Seems he was talking to old contacts, friends and clan chiefs on Tuchanka about his time on board the Normandy.

Liara was technically in the sickbay, but I rarely saw her. She spent her time holed up in the back room, poring over the numerous Prothean data discs we'd collected during this mission. Now that Saren was defeated and we were no longer going off on missions, she suddenly found herself with more free time and, to use her words, "fewer explosions."

And I? As soon as I got out of sickbay, I was swept into meeting after meeting after meeting. For days on end I discussed every single mission I'd ever gone on since Eden Prime. That meant Therum, Feros, Noveria, Virmire, Ilos, and a bunch of planets I'd forgotten ever visiting.

I'd just emerged from an agonizing eight hour 'discussion' when Anderson reached me on the comm.

"Shepard," he said. "Is the meeting over with?"

"Yes sir," I replied automatically. Couldn't help it. Old habits.

"Then could you please come down to the Wards Access on the Presidium," he requested. "Ambassador Udina said The Council would like to speak with us."

I suppressed a groan. "On my way."

Call me a cynic, but it was natural that the Citadel Tower and the Presidium would get top priority when it came to repair work. Priorities of the politicians and the elite, right? Still, even that allocation of resources was unable to repair all the damage that the Tower had suffered. Rather than lower themselves by meeting in such a messy and undignified locale, the TPTB had apparently opted to choose a less cluttered place to talk—that being the foyer outside the Wards Access.

By the time I arrived, TPTB and Udina and Anderson were already there. We lined up, humans facing TPTB. Somehow I got stuck in the middle, with Udina on my right and Anderson on my left.

"Ambassador, Captain, Commander Shepard," the asari councillor began. "We have gathered here to recognize the enormous contributions of the Alliance forces in the war against Sovereign and the geth." **(2) **

"Many humans lost their lives in the battle to save the Citadel, brave and courageous soldiers who willingly gave their lives so that we—the Council—might live," the salarian councillor added.

To my surprise, the turian councillor also had his words of appreciation. Either I'd been hit in the head harder than I'd realized, or he had practised a lot. "There is no greater sacrifice, and we share your grief over the tragic loss of so many noble men and women." **(3)**

"The Council also owes you a great personal debt, Commander," the asari councillor said. "One we can never repay. You saved not just our lives, but the lives of billions from Sovereign and the Reapers."

No thanks to you, I silently thought.

"Commander Shepard, your heroic and selfless actions serve as a symbol of everything humanity and the Alliance stand for," the salarian councillor pronounced.

Thinking back to all those times I tried to save my hide and constantly scrounged for loot, I was reminded again by how TPTB were really lousy judges of character.

"And though we cannot bring back those valiant soldiers who gave their lives to save ours, we can honour their memories through our actions." This was from the turian councillor, which meant it was the asari councillor's turn again.

"Humanity has shown it is ready to stand as a defender and protector of the galaxy. You have proved you are worthy to join our ranks and serve beside us on the Citadel Council." **(4)**

There goes the galaxy.

Udina gave the formal reply, managing to make it sound both officious and boring at the same time. "Councillors, on behalf of humanity and the Alliance, we thank you for this prestigious honour and humbly accept."

"We will need a list of potential candidates to fill humanity's seat on the Council," the salarian councillor said.

Then the asari councillor said something that was entirely unexpected: "Given all that has happened, I am sure your recommendation will carry a great deal of weight, Commander. Do you support any particular candidate?"

Once I got over the shock, I gave it some thought. In particular, I thought of one man who'd been nothing but a pain in the ass from the get-go, and one who had sacrificed everything to get me to where I was today.

Suddenly, an idea struck me. I turned and looked at Ambassador Udina.

"We need someone with the courage to stand up for what he believes in," I started. Then I turned to my left. "Someone like Captain Anderson." **(5) **

"_Him_?" Udina sputtered. "You must be joking. _Anderson _prefers to let his _fists_ do the talking."

"Only with you, Ambassador," Anderson replied cheekily. "Only with you."

"Are you sure about this, Commander?" Udina asked nervously. "The captain is a soldier, not a politician."

"The Council and the Citadel races don't need another politician. We've already got enough of those," I replied. "Ever since humanity emerged on the galactic stage, we've constantly impressed and amazed the Citadel races with our novel approaches and our new ways of thinking. In my opinion, the first human councillor should exemplify those very qualities. The captain would be perfect for this job."

"I think it's an inspired choice," the asari councillor beamed. No doubt she, and the other councillors, didn't relish the thought of some sourpuss like Udina joining their ranks. "The Council would welcome him with open arms, should he accept."

"I'm honoured, Councillor. If chosen as humanity's representative, I'll do everything in my power to help the Council rebuild." Anderson promised.

"Sovereign's defeat marks the beginning of a new era for both humanity and the Council," the turian councillor proclaimed. I groaned to myself. This sounded like the start of another speech or a round of speeches. I had to get myself out of this.

"Sovereign was only a vanguard," I interrupted. "The Reaper fleet is still coming. Hundreds of ships, maybe thousands. And I'm going to find some way to stop them!"

With that, I left the politicians—and Anderson—to talk amongst themselves. If I hurried, I could catch the next shuttle. There was a cafe near the embassies that served decent meals for reasonable prices. And I was _starving_.

_Editorial Note: At which point, this compilation of logs draws to a conclusion._

_

* * *

_

(1): If memory serves, that individual was Rear Admiral Mikhailovitch, whose inspection of the Normandy may have been more antagonistic than necessary.

_(2): The Fifth Fleet would receive many awards and commendations for their participation and sacrifice. Chief amongst these was the Palladium Star, given by the Citadel Council._

_(3): The Alliance lost the cruisers Shenyang, Emden, Jakarta, Cairo, Seoul, Cape Town, Warsaw and Madrid during the Battle of the Citadel. Their sacrifices are remembered to this day. _

_(4): Not to be a cynic, but the Council races desperately needed the military resources of the Alliance, having suffered such tremendous losses. The fact that phrasing it as a gesture of gratitude would look good allowed them to kill two birds with one stone. _

_(5): I'm still trying to think of a proper way to 'thank' Shepard for that 'honour'. _


End file.
